Not The Cure
by ReaverSkill
Summary: Framed for his home's destruction, Naruto is forced to flee Konoha. Deciding to take a dark route to save the Village, he finds another just like him but there is something wrong with her. Headaches, dizziness and many other things but she is strong enough to help Naruto but she has other things in mind. Can the two work together to achieve their goals or will it all fade away?
1. The New Hokage Is!

**A/N: Hello readers. This is my second story of four I am working on for your enjoyment. I usually update on Mondays but due to multiple stories, my updates will now be at random. Sorry about that sudden inconvenience. Please enjoy my newest story to my collection.**

**Prologue****: The New Hokage is..!**

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The Fire Daimyo sat in his chair waving his large fan to cool himself. To his right sat his five councilmen that wore identical clothing with large black hats with the fire country symbol in the center. The man furthest from the Daimyo picked up his glass of water, took a small sip of the liquid and wiped the wetness of his fingers on his sleeve. The closest one to the Daimyo picked up sheets of paper, restacked them evenly and cleared his throat. The five others to the Daimyo's left were appointed members of the council that were well respected and advised a Hokage when needed. An elderly man and women sat closet to the Daimyo with an Anbu in a white cloak and dog mask sitting in the middle. The old man readjusted his glasses to fit the wide bridge of his nose, the old lady next to him finished the glass of water and placed the cup down on the table. The last two at the end were Danzō, leader of ROOT, and Jonin Commander Shikaku Nara. Danzō was staring down the five councilmen lined up across from him with his uncovered eye.

"I believe now would be a good time to discuss why we are here," Shikaku said.

The Daimyo nodded and grabbed a stack of papers in front of him. Shuffling the papers, holding separate documents in his other hand, slowly reading each file twice before putting them down.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi has been killed by Orochimaru's forces during the invasion of the Chunin Exams," the Daimyo said. "We gathered here to discuss who shall succeed him due to Hiruzen not choosing a worthy candidate to take his place."

Chatter erupted on worthy candidates for Hokage and all having unrivaled skills in combat and diplomacy. Asuma Sarutobi was suggested due to the connection of the previous Hokage but the idea was dismissed when Danzō suggested the position should not be another peace easy man. It would mak Konohagakure appear weak.

Candidates were offered left and right but Danzō always had some complaint or insight on why the candidate would fail. Danzō claimed that all his inputs had the village's best interests at heart. Shikaku sat there quietly letting all the information sink in and how he could prevent Danzō from becoming Hokage. Shikaku knew that was Danzō's true intentions all along and if that man became Hokage, then Konoha would be in a dark shadow.

"I recommend Kakashi Hatake," Shikaku said.

The council men muttered to one another. Kakashi was an excellent candidate and a talented shinobi. No one in the village could deny the talent Kakashi possessed. The Daimyo rubbed his chin with the back of his hand and raised an eyebrow at the suggestion.

"Kakashi Hatake is one of our best shinobi," Shikaku continued. "He has single handed completed higher ranked missions, an experienced diplomat and he was student of the Fourth Hokage. As we all know the Fourth was trained by the Legendary Sanin Jiraiya and he was trained by the Third. The experience and wisdom passed by Sensei to student would be too good to pass up."

"Hmm. The Fourth Hokage you say. Yes that is true," the Daimyo nodded. "Having Kakashi as Hokage would show some linage in wisdom with our village."

The air seemed to tense up from Kakashi's mentioning. Danzō left eye looked toward Shikaku. His expression blank but Shikaku knew he ruffled Danzō's feathers by throwing a difficult tactic to maneuver around. Kakashi was too well known and respected to easily convince one to forgo an idea like the one proposed. Shikaku knew Kakashi would not enjoy the idea of being Hokage but after explaining the reasoning he would take the position.

"Very well," the Daimyo said. "It seems everyone here is in agreement. By the authority given to me by the Fire Country, I herby proclaim the fifth Hokage as-"

"We cannot have Kakashi as Hokage," Danzō stated.

"And I believe you are going to tell us why Danzō," Shikaku said.

"Yes. The Third trained the three Sanin. While this is true two of the three Sanin are missing, the third Sanin has lead an assault on us with our own allies, the Sand. Hiruzen sympathized with them and showed weakness. Orochimaru used this to his own advantage and killed him. If the teachings of the Third Hokage were passed from teacher to student, then all of his disciples will shown this same weakness. We need a Hokage to clean up this mess made by their naïve teachings. I believe the answer is simply."

The room was quiet. Shikaku gulped and wiped his sweaty palms on his pant leg, the Daimyo covered his face with his fan waiting for Danzō to finish his speech and the other councilmen were staring in awe as if Kami himself stood before them.

"That Hokage should be me," Danzō finished.

The Daimyo folded his fan and laid it on the table surface. Picking up the glass of water by the rim, he took a large gulp of the fluid and placed the cup back down. Clearing his throat, he stood up and clasped his hand together to gain the attention of the people in the room.

"After hearing all the candidates and all the pros and cons of each individual," the Daimyo paused. "I have made my decision. The next Hokage that will take over and bear the title of Fifth Hokage will be…"


	2. Chapter 1: This Isn't Fair

**Chapter 1: This isn't fair!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

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The Hokage office was quiet, empty and, unlike usual, void of paperwork. Filing cabinets organized and shut for the day, every stack of paper was already signed and carried away, a cup of tea sat on the corner of the desk with warm steam drifting from the drink. The Hokage chair was turned around facing the window, an arm reached out and grabbed the rim of the cup with bandaged fingertips. The sound of sipping came from behind the chair before the cup was placed back where it was. The Hokage stood up and approached the window. He tugged the front of the signature white and red hat with the Fire Country symbol on the front to cover more of his face from the light.

The Village was going through much needed repairs from the recent invasion during the Chunin Exams. Many homes were left in ruins and the academy was in need of immediate repairs. The Hokage made fixing the main walls around the Village and the academy first priority. It would take months to rebuild all the damage done from the invasion but the new Hokage believed under his leadership, the Village would be better off.

An Anbu wearing a cat mask covered in red and green marking appeared before the Hokage desk.

"Lord Hokage," The Anbu said. "We've located him and I ordered a squad to retrieve him. He will be brought here shortly."

"Good job Tenzo," The Hokage said. "We cannot let the Village's greatest weapon be loose. A small leash will be put on the Nine-Tails. And the reports?"

"People have been silenced, reports made, and the men are in place. All we're waiting for is your word Lord Hokage."

"That is what I like to hear. What of the ninja that could hinder our plan?"

"Kakashi Hatake has been sent out on a mission with the others that would vow his innocence. They will not return until it is too late to testify."

"Excellent. You are dismissed."

The Anbu nodded and vanished in the same matter as he appeared. The Hokage pinched the rim of his hat with his thumb and index finger then slowly took it off. His left eye opened up taking a better look at his Village.

"This is my way Hiruzen. I, Danzō, will be the Hokage Konoha needs to rise to greatness."

The sounds of a tussle came from behind the door to the Hokage's office and the door flung open with a small blond child being pushed in with four Anbu circling him with weapons displayed. The child pushed himself up to his feet and looked around with frantically.

"What's going on," the child said. "I was trying to eat ramen after training and then I'm yanked away by these guys."

Danzō turned around from the window and approached the child but not before putting the Hokage hat back on his head.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Danzō said. "I know Tenzo said you would be brought in shortly but I was not expecting this quickly. I am not sure whether to praise Tenzo or punish him for the sudden inconvenience."

"I don't even know what's going on," Naruto said. "Why was I brought here?"

"I am Danzō. The Fifth Hokage."

Naruto sunk his head into his shoulders at the word Hokage. He knew they would have to pick a new Hokage eventually but to choose one so soon after The Third's death depressed him a bit. The old man was like a grandfather to him by giving him guidance whenever he could or allowing him to go on mission that left the village to given Naruto some freedom.

"So you're the old man's replacement?" Naruto asked. "Why am I here then? I have a mission soon and I'm trying to get ready."

"No you will not. As of today, you will be contained in the lower levels of the village until the time for the Nine-Tails is needed. You are the Village's greatest weapon and we cannot allow you to be walking around freely and expose you to other villages that will capture the Nine-Tails."

A cloud of smoke appeared next to Danzō and a pale teen stepped out of the cloud. Naruto noticed similarities to Sasuke but realized it wasn't his teammate. His outfit was mostly black besides the two leather straps the boy was tugging on and a sheathed short blade was visible on his back. His face expressionless like he had no understanding of emotions.

"This boy is Sai. He is one of our most trusted ROOT members and he will be your replacement on Team 7 and a proper excuse will be made to cover your imprisonment. Take him away."

The Anbu surrounding Naruto grabbed him and began dragging him out of the office. Naruto started to kick and thrash around attempting to break free but the Anbu secured his arms and legs and continued to carry him away.

"You can't do this to me," Naruto shouted. "How am I to become Hokage if I'm locked up?!"

"Your petty dream does not interest me in the slightest."

"This isn't fair!"

The door shut and Danzō approached the window once again. Everything was going the way he wanted but he had one more tactic before everything fell into place. Danzō commanded Sai to leave and take his place with the rest of Team 7 and prepare for the plan. Sai disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving Danzō alone once more. The Village was not ready for what Danzō had in store but that was what he hoped for. Lifting his left hand vertically to his face, he made a few one handed signs and a portion of the Village was up in smoke. The sounds of people panicking flooded Konoha, people screaming of another invasion and others screaming monster. It lead into a full blow epidemic. No one knew this was something created by Danzō and no one would be able to stand up to his plan. Red piercing eyes gleamed behind the smoke followed by a demonic roar.

"The Nine-tails!"

A giant Nine-Tails clone appeared at the other end of the Village. The nine red-orange tails lashed out and destroyed nearby buildings. The imposter Nine-Tails jumped around the Village, crushing anything in its path. The buildings vanished into dust and rubble under the weight of the fake Tailed Beast. Swatting homes and restaurants around like gnats. The shockwave from the Nine-tail's roar alone toppled buildings. The villagers ran to closest buildings for cover to await ninja to combat the giant fox. Including the destruction from the invasion, Konoha was becoming more of a vacant space of land.

Anbu belonging to Danzō's ROOT rushed to scene, conveniently, surrounded the demon fox, opened sealing scrolls and made quick work of the false Nine-Tails. The chains shot out of the scrolls a pulled out portions of chakra of the Nine-Tails duplicate and sealed it within an urn binded together with the First Hokage's Great God Gates. The chakra was quickly ripped from the imposter and sealed within the urn.

"That was resolved faster than I expected," Danzō claimed. "Fifty Anbu ROOT sacrificed themselves to create that fake Nine-Tails. Their sacrifice will be for the Village's future. Now we move to Phase Two."


	3. Chapter 2: Out of the Pot Into the Fire

**A/N: Sorry guys. I really am. Had you all waiting for nearly a month for me to post this chapter. A lot has been stressing me out such as college assignments and work. I know that is not an excuse though so here is chapter three for being so patient. Please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 3: Out of the Pot and Into the Fire**

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The underground dungeons of Konoha were just as bad as Naruto has heard from ninja that have done time down there. The area was poorly lite from the candles lining every other cell. The lights only illuminated the walkway of the dungeons and left the prisoners either no source of light to navigate their cell with or very little. The sound of leaking pipes were almost maddening to someone inexperience to sound torture. The dripping water landing onto the pools of water would be an interesting melody if the guards didn't decide to use metal buckets to catch the water. The guards also made sure to rustle up the rat nests to ensure the constant squeaking from the rats alone were enough to make one scream. One of the worst things the dungeons did was refusal to clean and remove and rust in the area below. The smell of rust filled the area below and due to the torture room close by, no one was sure if the metallic smell was from the rust or the blood from a captive. The chains that echoed throughout the halls were the only things to remind Naruto he wasn't alone down there. Other prisoners trying to get free of their chains by yanking the restraints, trying to pull their limbs out of them or actually breaking bones and tearing off pieces of flesh to escape.

However, Naruto's chains were special compared to all the other prisoners. The other prisoners had a chain attached to their leg keeping them to the wall but atleast they had the capability, and luxury, to walk around their cell. Naruto was supported to the wall with his forearms pinned by metal bands and his legs bolted the same way. No matter how hard he thrashed about he couldn't loosen the restraints they placed him in right away. Every now and then the guards would come in just to retighten the bolts he did managed to loosen and when the wall couldn't hold the bolts in the same spot, he would be relocated to another section of the wall.

It felt like months had passed since the incident, for all he knew it could had been months, and Naruto was slowly beginning to lose hope. His attempts to force the bonds loose were always thwarted and his restraints had some kind of seal to prevent the use of chakra so when Naruto tried to use Shadow Clones, the bands burned his hands and wrists thus ruining the mold of chakra and all his concentration. He couldn't even do the simplest of techniques and all the results would end the same way; the experience would leave him exhausted and hungry.

When Naruto was fed, the guards would hold a small, but long, ladle of gruel in front of his mouth. The food was horrible and the guards would either skip out on feeding him or make some sick, twisted game out of it by forcing the child to work for it like some animal. One guard shoved the bowl into his face attempting to suffocate him with the gruel due to the lost of his family during the Nine-Tails attack all those years ago. All they simply did was laugh at his misfortune calling him a monster or a demon. Everyone believed Naruto really did lose control and destroyed the Village. It boiled him on the inside.

Naruto overheard some of the guards talking after they decided to skip out on feeding him again for the third day in a row. It had been six months since the Nine-Tails attacked and they had him locked up for their safety. His hope nearly broken after being trapped underground with no contact from his friends or teammates. Naruto believed he was truly forgotten by those he called friends and that he would be subjugated to this nightmare for all eternity or so he thought. He heard the sound of footsteps coming towards his cell but Naruto memorized his cycle of beatings and being fed. The approaching visitors should not be for him but they were. The sound of squeaking metal made the Jinchūriki flinch the but sharp pain of being smacked was worse. His jaw was grabbed by a large hand and yanked upward to see the Hokage, the very man that condemned him to this horror.

His first reaction was to curse out the old man. Yelling at the top of his voice, spouting all sorts of profanities toward the old man, threatening to return every punch and kick he had gotten over the course of six months to him ten full but his threats were stopped by a swift punch to his solar plexus by one of Danzō's Anbu. Danzō called off his men with a simple raise of his hand and had them return to their posts claiming he would be fine alone with the Nine-Tails. The idea that Danzō saw Naruto more as the Nine-Tails than a ninja angered the young Jinchūriki.

"So now it's your turn to beat me senseless?" Naruto asked.

"Quite the opposite," Danzō said. "You have been a thorn in my side despite being locked away down here. You so called friends pounding away at my door for your whereabouts, head clan members demanding to see a body of our previous Jinchūriki and who his successor is, even the Civilian council members and Daimyo are threatening to stop funding the Village with their merchant trade if I did not turn over a body for them to parade the streets with to show you are dead."

Naruto was surprised his friends still looked for him. It was enough to give him hope and with a forced hand sign he tried summoning Shadow Clones once more but fell short by the seals on his restraints. He screamed in pain as his wrists began to glow a bright red and burned his skin pink.

"Do you like those seals?" Danzō asked. "They are similar to the Celestial Fire Prison used in the prisons belonging to the Hidden Grass Village. It prevents any kind of chakra molding and burns the wearing of the seal. Very helpful against your kind isn't it?"

Naruto said nothing but still tried to escape by pushing off the wall with whatever remaining strength he had. He couldn't let Danzō get away with what he did to him nor how he disrespected the previous Hokage's views by locking him up and refusing freedom. Naruto kept pushing and thrashing about but the results were the same as all his six months put to together. He was still in the same place just tired and defeated.

"Still stubborn even until the end," Danzō said. "I'm not here to beat you, to insult you or any of the sort. In fact, I'm here to offer you a chance to leave this place."

That last part got Naruto's attention. He lifted his head and his focus turned toward the Hokage and away from his attempts to escape. It sounded too good to be true for the young ninja. If what Danzō was saying was true, then Naruto could leave his nightmare and be out in open and free once more but the young Jinchūriki knew there had to be a catch. If it were that easy, then Danzō would have offered it in the first place. He nodded and let Danzō continue.

"You have the capabilities to be the strongest ninja that this world has ever seen," Danzō reached into his pocket and pulled out a lump of coal to show Naruto. "Just like this piece of coal, your are ignored and rough around the edges." Danzō encased the black rock in his fingers. Slowly wrapping each finger around it so the coal was perfectly clenched in his palm. The sound of the rock being crushed in Danzō's hand echoed throughout Naruto's cell. "However with my guidance and my training," Danzō said opening his hand to reveal a smoothly cut diamond in his palm. "I can make you shine."

Naruto was amazed at what Danzō did but was even more amazed at Danzō's offer. Naruto would be free of his prison and back among his friends and comrades. If Danzō did train him, the possibilities for Naruto would almost be limitless. He remembered Jiraiya, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and the other Konoha ninja he grew fond of over his time. Danzō was rumored to be a mastermind of working in the shadows and manipulating others to his whim so what was Danzō going to make Naruto do to earn this freedom.

"There's no way you'd just let me go, even if I agreed to let you train me," Naruto yelled at the Hokage. "What's the catch?"

"Absolutely no catch. You would be enlisted within my Anbu ROOT and be trained by my men and I. Simply as that."

Naruto was skeptical. A few questions never hurt right?

"What exactly is ROOT?"

"I will tell you the basics of our organization but I will tell you more should you agree." Naruto nodded and heard Danzō out. "The basic thing you need to know is that the Anbu ROOT is the elite of the elite. We have no remorse for the weak, no emotions to hold us back and any ninja that fails to complete his assignment is dead weight."

"So abandoning the rules makes you scum basically? It's okay if we abandon our friends and comrades as long as we get the job done?" Naruto asked.

"We have no friends in ROOT but yes it is acceptable."

"Could you come closer Lord Hokage," Naruto asked.

Danzō obliged believing Naruto could not harm him in any way that would threaten his safety. Once Danzō got close enough, Naruto spit in Danzō's uncovered eye. Despite his eye being closed, he staggered back from the event completely flabbergasted. Naruto knew if any of the guards were there, he'd be dead but being dead would be better than being lower than scum in his mind.

"They say those who abandon the rules are scum but I believe those who are willing to abandon their friends are worse than scum. Take you deal and shove up your rear old man. I refuse!"

The entire dungeon echoed and Naruto's words were heard not only by Danzō but by every person that was currently down there. Danzō's ROOT quickly appeared between their Hokage and the blond Jinchūriki. Danzō lifted his arm up and wiped away the spit on his face with his sleeve and walked toward the door of Naruto's cell. Danzō turned his head slightly and spoke to Naruto in a dark tone.

"Very well Naruto," Danzō spoke. "Due to your arrogance we can see now that you are unfit to host the Nine-Tails. We will be extracting it in three days and resealing it in a much more loyal and more capable ROOT Anbu. Sleep well boy. Remember that you made this choice."

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**A/N: If anyone can guess what I referenced with Danzo and Naruto, they'll get favorite points. However the points don't really matter. Yup useless, kind of like a salad bar at an all you can buffet. **

**I'll try and update more often guys. I just had so much trouble typing this part for some odd reason but now we can get on track. Hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 3: Escape the Hidden Leaf

**A/N: Yahoo! Hey everyone what is up! Here is our next installment of Not the Cure. I will be putting one story on hiatus so my other two can catch up in chapters. Also with me being unemployed now, thanks to employers that hire and refuse to schedule then replace you, my internet will be shut down temporarily. So until I am employed, this will be the "last" update for a short time but have no fears. Once my internet gets reactivated, i will post any and all chapters that i completed from now to then.**

**Oh and a shout out to Titano Man XIII for catching the Teen Titans reference. I thought it was fitting. **

**Without further waiting here you go guys please enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the franchise.**

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"_They took everything from me!_" Naruto mentally shouted.

Danzō went to extreme lengths to ensure the secrecy of the Nine-Tails' extraction. First he severed the links of Naruto's friends and teammates by keeping the fact he was still alive hidden but this was much worse. Danzō had some Anbu ROOT alter the blond's flow of chakra to make it unrecognizable to all but that was just a start to it. Danzō, himself, came in and did some sealing technique preventing Naruto to call upon any summoning creatures he may have made a pact with. Naruto lost his contract with the Toads and possibly any way to contact Jiraiya.

Naruto was use to losing things due to the villagers taking them or destroying them but he never thought he'd lose everything he worked so hard for. He knew that if he angered the Toads they wouldn't respond to his call but to actually lose them was heart breaking. Now the only thing that he had left was the Nine-Tails but he would be taken from him too and in the result his death. Danzō made it clear to Naruto that the extraction always ended with the host dying and that was his fate for declining Danzō's offer to join ROOT. After everything that happened, he was starting to regret it but remembering his friends made him feel glad that he did. Kakashi and Hiruzen showed him the better way of a shinobi.

"_They said they'd remove the Nine-Tails soon but it's been weeks,_" Naruto thought. "_Why do they enjoy tormenting me so much?_"

"**It's that seal the blasted Fourth Hokage placed on you.**"

Naruto felt a sudden shiver down his spine as he looked up to see that he was no longer in his prison cell but in what appeared to be a sewer of some kind. It was dark, damp and smelled like something foul died inside. The sewer looked like it went on forever but behind Naruto were bars of metal so thick it appeared to be impossible to break.

"**You use to be so loud and obnoxious but here you are weak and helpless.**"

"It's not like there's anything else I can do. I lost my friends, no one can detect my chakra and I lost the contract with the Toads so I can't even make contact with Pervy Sage to come help me. I have nothing left."

"**You're wrong. You have me,**" the fox chuckled. "**If you use my chakra, the seal that stops your chakra will burn out and from there we can make a run for it.**"

Naruto seemed skeptical. The Nine-Tails was the strongest of the Tailed Beasts according to the legends but rarely ever made deals that did not benefit himself. So the real question was why help him all of a sudden.

"Why help me," Naruto asked. "Last time I checked you only help yourself."

"**I am helping myself brat,**" the Nine-Tails responded. "**If they manage to break the seal on you, then I get locked up in some brainwashed monkey. Atleast I like you to an extent. Most of my other hosts just shut me out but you atleast had the pear to confront me and take my chakra to summon the Toad Boss.**"

"So you'd be willing to help me to save your own hide?"

"**Don't get to comfortable with the idea. This will be your blue moon opportunity to escape with no one being able to detect you. Unlike Danzō I will not let you think this over so what is your answer.**"

Before Naruto could answer, he was forcibly pulled out of his dreamscape by a familiar chakra. His one chance of potential freedom and someone stopped him before he could say yes. He awoke to the smell of something musty and the air more damp than usual. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to two men in armor wearing Anbu masks; one representing a toad and the other a dog. These two men stopped Naruto from being free and they were more than likely ordered to get him for the extraction.

"So it's time to take out the Nine-Tails then," Naruto asked. "Well too bad. I'd willingly let it go free than let you guys take it."

Naruto was wacked over the head with a yellow paperback book from the Anbu bearing the dog mask. The toad Anbu just shook his head and removed the shackles holding Naruto to the wall.

"Wait what's going on?"

"Sorry about the masks Naruto," the dog Anbu said. "It's a safety precaution so none of ROOT know who we are."

"Normally a thank you is in order when someone helps you brat," the toad Anbu remarked. "After all that special training I gave you one would think you'd be able to recognize us."

"Kakashi-sensei! Pervy Sage!" Naruto exclaimed but was cut off quick with another thumb to the head delivered by Jiraiya.

"Shut up you idiot! This is an undercover rescue mission and if you go about screaming are names, then our cover is blown."

"Listen to Lord Jiraiya, Naruto," Kakashi began. "We'll have to be quiet and remain undetected by any and all. If we're spotted once, then the mission is a failure. We'll be killed on the spot and they'll lock you up again until whatever they were planning to do is ready and based off what you said, they want to put the Nine-Tails in another. Now that we know that, we'll have to tread even more so on the caution side. Is everything prepared Jiraiya?"

"Yup. Naruto and I will be reversed summoned to Mount Myōboku and then we leave the replacement to appear he escaped on his own. Mimicking his chakra though will be difficult considering how vast it is but thanks to the others, we can create a false Naruto just like Danzō's imitation Nine-Tails."

That won't work," Naruto said. "They altered my chakra with some weird jutsu that cut me off from the Toads. They won't respond to my current chakra."

Kakashi placed his palm on Naruto's forehead and gave Jiraiya a nod of approval. It was explained that it was a forbidden jutsu that doesn't alter chakra but changes it in every way so in a matter of speaking Naruto had an entirely new flow of chakra. Naruto asked Jiraiya if he could just resign the contract but he informed him that he had already signed the contract using his blood and chakra so the scroll would just deny him. Until they reversed the jutsu, Naruto could never summon the Toads again.

That struck Naruto with depression. He would never be able to summon them again. All he could remember was his challenge with the Chief Toad, Gamabunta, and his two sons that he summoned, Gamaichi and Gamatatsu. He really grew attached to them despite the occasional insult but Naruto saw it as tough love and enjoyed it. Now knowing that there's a chance they were gone from his life hurt more than any injury he had ever had.

"The only way around that technique, from what I've heard, is to have it reused on the target again but it has to be the same person because they have their victim's chakra sample," Jiraiya said.

Kakashi revealed the Sharingan to see if it could help but nothing seemed different about Naruto's chakra or the Nine-Tails. The only off thing was that it appeared to jolt from time to time like an electronic with a cut wire. Enough juice to transmit but not for very long. In short there was nothing they could do but fix Naruto's upset network and retrain his body from scratch.

"Alright then," Kakashi sighed. "If we can't go with plan A, then we'll go to plan B. We thought of something like this but not to this extent."

Kakashi pulled out a map and placed it on the ground. Biting one of fingers through his mask, he used blood from his fingertip to work as a marker. He dotted several spots on the map explaining it's the underground prison they were in and were the guards were. Getting in was easy because of their Anbu disguises but getting out with Naruto in tow was easier said than done.

Kakashi went down what plan B was and simplified it so Naruto could keep up with his role. They had to leave the same way they came in and from there they would have more area to work with but getting around the guards would be difficult and if the replacement is seen through before they could escape it would all be over. They would either have to use genjutsu to have the guards act like they saw nothing, incapacitate them and hide the body or, as a last resort, kill the guards if they couldn't do either and all of this without raising the alarm.

"If we go this route, it will take longer but less guard encounter. Getting away will be easier but time is of the essence," Kakashi said. "Once we get out, Bravo and Alpha squad will be outside to cause a distraction while Charlie squad will be the team to help you and Lord Jiraiya escape. No debates, no discussion, no arguments. I know you don't like relying on people to risk themselves for you Naruto but this one time, please, allow us to help you."

He knew there were risks, he knew his friends would be part of those teams to help him but his pride wanted him to be there with him. If he went back and they were all caught with him, then everything they did for him would be in vein. Despite how much he wanted to fight with his comrades, he swallowed his pride and nodded. The plan was ready.

Swapping Naruto with an odd clone they summoned, they restrained it just like he was before and quietly left the cell, made a straight shot down the hall and turned left to avoid any on coming patrol. The halls were much darker than usual due to Kakashi and Jiraiya blowing out the candles that provided lighting for the network of tunnels for extra coverage and adding the element of stealth to their mission. Naruto saw other prisoners snuff out the candles occasionally so the guards wouldn't find it suspicious but would be a bit more on edge considering how many there were and that it followed a specific pattern.

Every now and then they would be forced to stay against the wall waiting for two chattering guards to return to their posts. They almost got at one point when Naruto kicked one of the cell doors, causing the door to close and lock. The sound echoed and alerted a nearby guard to investigate. His investigation lead to locking on to a red eye with three tomoe which through his eyes appeared to be spinning and after that he remembered that he actually lost footing, fell into the cell and when he grabbed the bars to catch himself, the door shut on him. It was one of many obstacles they would have to go through once they reach the surface.

Naruto lost track of how long they were down in the dungeons but to him it felt like hours and freedom was still so far away. Corridor after corridor, guard after guard and trick for trick. Naruto felt like it was all a dream but after a few bumps and cuts he was sure the pain was real and that he had to be patient and trust in his mentors for freedom. He could trust Kakashi with more than just his life and if his sensei trusted Jiraiya than he too could believe in him. It was just so nerve wracking for the young ninja to have been locked up for months and be so close to freedom. One mess up and it would all be taken from him again and even worse the people he was close to would suffer too.

"Come on," Kakashi whispered. "We take one more left and then up the stairs. After that we can climb out through a window and make our way to the rendezvous point. We're almost clear Naruto just a bit more patience." Naruto could only nod quietly, despite he wanted to know the full plan. Time was a fragile resource they had and if being trapped underground and being tormented taught him anything, it was that time was sacred and not to be misused.

Kakashi took the lead and scouted the area up ahead. After placing a genjutsu on the two ninja outside the main door, he signaled Naruto and Jiraiya to follow and were able to leave the dungeons undisturbed. Naruto commented that it was easy and both Jiraiya and Kakashi thought it was suspiciously too easy. Kakashi reached for his collar and radioed the other teams confirming that they had Naruto and to "make some noise." Almost immediately after saying that, several explosions were set off and alarms echoed throughout the night.

Naruto was tugged under Jiraiya and off they went. Naruto tried squirming out insisting he could walk on his own but his old teacher said they needed to make haste and carrying him would allow the two veterans to move without the hindrance of having to slow down for Naruto's sake. Naruto saw the real reason though. With all the chaos that was ensuing and the Anbu disguises Kakashi and Jiraiya wore, they appeared to be fellow ninja taking a civilian away to safety. Naruto, being too young and inexperienced, would never had thought of a plan like that to blend.

"Alpha team calling Dog Frog," Kakashi's radio picked up. "Come in Dog Frog. Is the package secure, over?"

"This is Dog Frog, Alpha team," Kakashi responded. "We have the package. Proceed to the extraction site, over."

"What's going on Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto let me answer for you," the Toad Sage said. "Things are about to heat up so hang on to your pants. Once we get to the extraction point you and I are gonna have to run like hell to get to the safe house."

"Can I atleast know the plan now that we're on the run?"

"Sorry kid but until we get into the clear you'll just have to do as we say." Jiraiya stopped on a nearby rooftop and made a few hand seals. "This might give away my part in your rescuing but this will slow 'em down a bit. Summoning Jutsu!"

From a puff of smoke that expanded several blocks, three toads appeared with weapons in hand and a pissed off look. One had a spiked fork-like weapon pointed directly at the building the Hokage worked in like he had all intention to take it down. The toad on his left wielded two ninjato blades and demonstrated, despite being a toad, he could use them well. In the middle was a toad Naruto was too familiar with. The jacket he wore and the long pipe that he smoked and the blade that cut off Shukaku's arm. The Chief of all the Toads.

"Gamabunta," Jiraiya exclaimed. "We need you guys to buy us some time while Naruto and I escape. Think you can do that for me?"

"Naruto?" the toad questioned. "Fine we'll do it but that brat better have a damn good reason why he cancelled our contract."

"Don't worry I'll explain to you later but we have to go. Let's go, Naruto."

"Thanks Boss," Naruto yelled. "Tell Gamaichi he'll be seeing me soon and sorry about all of this."

Gamabunta just watched from the corner of his eye as the self-proclaimed Toad Sage and his apprentice took off. A long drag hit from his pipe and large puff of smoke later, Gamabunta wrapping his webbed hand around his blade and slowly pulled it from his blade. The anticipation was thick enough to cut but when the blade was free from its sheathe, the Chief spoke.

"Listen up," Gamabunta spoke. "Our opponents may be ones we are familiar with but due to the change in leadership, they are more ruthless and less forgiving. They could care less about their comrades as long as they defeat us. Show no mercy. Gamamaru knows they won't show it to us." With that said, the Toads took off and made it a point to focus all forces on them.

Naruto took one look back to see the Toad Chief and his two comrades tearing through building and avoiding large scale techniques like they were fighting amateurs but that was all of their experience showing. Gamabunta taking out fire techniques with water style and using their our jutsu against them by spitting the toad oil to ignite the users leaving them limited to the earth and water styles that proved ineffective against their large opponents. Naruto was awed by their tactics and skill in battle. It was something Naruto would have to build up on if he wanted to be Hokage but of all things, he would have to escape and survive.

"Come on," Kakashi said. "The rendezvous is just up ahead. From there we can-gaah."

A tendril of wood caught them off guard, sent Kakashi into a nearby building and forced Jiraiya and Naruto to retreat back to Kakashi's position. The Sanin took a defensive stance while Naruto aided his teacher in getting back up to his feet. An Anbu appeared before them with a cat face with red and green markings with a steady hand holding on to the hilt of a sword attached to his back ready for a fight.

"Tenzō stop," Kakashi grunted. "You questioned Danzō's way, served Hiruzen without question and I even spared your life when most wouldn't have. So why serve him now when you know he'll drive this Village to the ground?"

"I have no choice Kakashi," Tenzō removed his mask and stuck out his tongue revealing a strange seal consisting on three full lines and four half lines. "This seal prevents me from betraying Danzō. I have no options so surrender the Nine-Tails and turn yourselves in."

"Sorry but we can't do that," the sound of chirping broke the silence. Kakashi stood with his Sharingan revealed and chidori ready. "Jiraiya go ahead and get Naruto to safety. I'll hold off Tenzō and any other ninja that try to interfere."

"But Kakashi-sensei we can help-"

"This isn't some C-Rank mission Naruto! This is your life on the line and as your teacher I'll be damned if I fail to save you!"

Stunned by his words, Naruto said nothing but left with Jiraiya. His heart hurt with every beat feeling as if he abandoned his teacher but he knew the risks and that meant leaving one teammate behind to hold off enemy forces but one of the few people he saw as a parental figure risking their life went against what he was taught.

Remembering the bell training, he learned teamwork and that is was wrong to leave friends and comrades behind to complete a mission or to save your own skin. So thinking that his friends are risking themselves for him and he can't do anything to help them but run away made him feel sick. He would come back though and return the favor for all they sacrificed and that was a promise.

"Naruto look sharp!" Jiraiya said. "The rendezvous is in sight. Once we get there Charlie team will help us get a good distance away so we can touch point with the safe house."

Team Charlie was assembled at what looked like three stumps sticking out of the ground. Naruto immediately recognized it as the training grounds that he, Sakura and Sasuke officially became Team Seven. Four people were the only people seen there. Were they the team that would help them? Just those four against an army?

"That's Charlie team?" Naruto asked.

"That's them. We could only arrange a small group of people for this and honestly less is more."

The four ran to Jiraiya and Naruto. The wore Anbu masks as well but a little more different than the usual. The taller of the three, the more experienced adult, wore a cat mask, while the three ninja about Naruto's height wore matching fox masks. Most Anbu don't wear the same mask as each one is different in some aspect whether it's the paint or shape.

"Glad you made it Charlie Cat," Jiraiya said. "I hope you and the Charlie Kits were unhindered?"

"Affirmative Lord Toad," Cat said. "We're ready to provide the escort and distraction if needed. Right Kits?"

"Let's get Naruto out of here," one Kit answered calmly.

"Hell yeah otherwise I might never get my rematch with him," A bark came from inside the cloak of the second Kit.

"Y-yes. L-let's make h-haste for N-Naruto," the final Kit said.

"Alright then. Cat you and the Kits will take down the wall and we'll go north. After that the next team will trade off and you can go back into hiding."

"Actually our team will return and claim we returned from our mission. We managed to return early and remained low for this day. The paper bombs are already set too. We just need your word."

"Good. Set them off and be prepared for hell and don't do anything to extreme that'll give away who you are."

Team Charlie, Jiraiya and Naruto took off toward the gate. Adrenaline coursed through Naruto's body as they approached the gate. Four Anbu cut them off though aware of what Team Charlie was guarding. Two of the Kits leapt forward and engaged in taijutsu but the third kept a distance waving his arms around. Naruto didn't see any shuriken flying around so he had no idea what that person was doing.

The remaining two Anbu charged for Jiraiya, Naruto and Cat. Cat made several hand signs and a odd smelling mist lifted from the ground. Naruto's body felt woozy from the mist and quickly held his breath realizing it was the mist that was doing it. He figured it had to have been a Genjutsu but the effects were kicking in.

He was seeing things that weren't there and whatever did exist just vanished before his eyes. Jiraiya was gone, Team Charlie vanished and the Anbu became shadows that swirled around him dragging him into the darkness. The shadows danced on the ground and slithered like snakes to where Naruto was and despite how fast he ran, he never moved from hi spot and the shadows crept closer. The shadows slowly lifted and formed four black pillars around Naruto and about his height. He kicked and punched but none of it helped. The shadow pillars would simply twist and turn avoiding the attacks made on them. The pillars then took a new form but these shadows outline and solidified into four men. These four men were different even for ninja. One of them was covered in a series of piercing he'd never seen before. They appeared to be rods that covered nearly all of his face and his eyes had these strange rings on them. The next man had long hair and scary eyes just like the other but those eyes resembled both Kakashi and Sasuke's Sharingan and had a crow perched on his left shoulder. The last two men stood closer to one another compared to the other two. One appeared to have stitches on his arms and his face covered by a mask. His arms twitched every now and then and had odd tendrils protruding from his forearms. The other man had a three bladed scythe and a pentagram hanging around his neck of a triangle inside a circle. His body was black like the night but his body had to of had paint or something to make him appear like a skeleton.

"It is you that must stop them," the man with the crow said.

"It is by your sacrifice that the world may find peace," said the man covered in piercings.

"Once we find you, our names will be stricken with glory by Gods," the skeleton man shouted.

"Endless wealth will be in our possession," the sutured man proclaimed.

They all raised their arms and the shadows engulfed Naruto. All of his strengths felt like they were being pulled from him and there was nothing he could do about it. His screams were muffled by the darkness flooding his nose, mouth, ears and eyes. His limbs were grabbed and pulled to the point they popped out socket and his body went limp. All he could remember about the men were their coats that bore red clouds

"Naruto!"

Naruto snapped back into reality. Jiraiya was holding him as they leapt through the trees. It was just him and the Toad Sage though. He looked around to see that Team Charlie was nowhere in sight.

"Team Charlie stayed behind to cover us while we made our escape. I couldn't break the genjutsu due to our escape so I had to let it run its course. Wasn't to too bad was it?"

"I saw these men in black coats with red clouds. One I think had the Sharingan another had rings for eyes and the other two just had coats like them. The only thing unusual was that one had a necklace with a triangle in a circle."

Jiraiya had a good feeling who the man with the Sharingan was but the idea of a man with rings in the eyes gave him an idea but it was hard to believe. He trained a ninja from the Hidden Rain Village that had rings that were in his eyes similar to the legend of the Sage of Six Paths. The other two though were unfamiliar to him though but it was a genjutsu so the idea of Naruto seeing two people that Jiraiya to identify was eerie.

"Naruto we need to stop."

"Why are we stopping Pervy Sage? Time to meet with the next team?"

Jiraiya scribbled something on a small piece of paper and folded it neatly. Give it to Naruto he point the way they were going before they stopped.

"Go that way until you're stopped by someone you're unsure of. If they ask you why you're in their territory, give them that paper. Tell them that you're looking for that particular item. Now go."

"What about you?"

Jiraiya just shot him a glare and Naruto understood. He leapt off without question, understanding that his mentor gave him a signal that it was time.

"Alright now how about one final dance. Winner gets to catch up with Naruto."

Danzō and Tenzō both appeared in a tree above the Sanin.

"Considering you're here, that would mean Kakashi either defeated you and you recovered or you bested the Copy Cat Ninja."

"Jiraiya of the Sanin," Danzō started. "Once I learned of your involvement I had to take immediate action. You've done a wonderful job of getting Naruto out in the open and weed out the weak. Now we have them under lockdown and about Kakashi. If you're so worried I'll let you know this, he escaped before capture."

"Well that's good. I guess I shouldn't hold back against you two."

Jiraiya cut his thumbs with one bite and with a single summon, summoned two frogs that appeared on his shoulders. Both appeared old and about the size of the Sanin's head.

"Let's do it Ma, Pa!" Jiraiya looked up to his opponents with a swelled face with a few extra warts. "Sage Mode!"


	5. Chapter 4: Shibuki's Decision!

**A/N: Woot! Update time everyone and here i thought it would be a long time before I could update again. And now the moment we've all been waiting for! Fu's first appearance! It's not a major one but she's still in it and will give a little insight on what I have planned for the next few chapters.**

**And allow me to elaborate about the last chapter and the whole genjustu thing. I kind of used it like a whole premonition thing but after i posted the story, I was like what the heck was I thinking! I figured that since the genjutsu messed with your mind, why couldn't it? Monks and Native American shaman use to inhale or consume plants that caused hallucinations that would grant them visions. I guess I should have thought that through more so sorry if that didn't make any sense. I think that was the only complaint i got that i agreed with? So let's go on with the chapter and a little idea that i though would be fun for you guys! I call it the Author Challenge. The point is to find something i have in the text or a hint about a character I want found before it is revealed or a reference I used, like the Teen Titan one I did in Chapter 2 with Danzo and Naruto. PM me the correct answer and you will get a preview of the next update before it is posted. Let me know if you guys think it is a good idea or not. But for now let's give you what you want!**

**Chapter 4: A letter from a friend; Shibuki's choice!**

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"_Dear Shibuki,_

_ I know you just started taking your role of Takigakure's leader more seriously and would not want to endanger your people but this is a serious matter. I'm sure that you heard about the Konoha invasion during the Chunin exams. That the Sand allied with the Sound to aid them in our defeat but if that were the case, I would not be writing this would I. _

_ Here's the real issue though. The Third Hokage was killed during the invasion fending off Orochimaru and I was offered the position. I refused, of course, and had put my opinion in for Tsunade which they happily took but the war hawk, Danzō, managed to secure the position before Naruto and I could go look for her. Danzō locked Naruto up and framed him for an attack on the Village. His life is on the line and I hope that you will aid us in securing that life considering he risked his to help save your home. If you will help us, then have ninja that you trust to escort him to Takigakure around the coordinates given to you in my last letter._

_ Sincerely, _

_ The Toad Sage of Mount Myuokobo, Jiraiya_

_ P.S. If you do help us, don't worry about Konoha barking down your door with war. If this succeeds, then they lose footing, their 'secret weapon' and you still have yours. Don't think I didn't know."_

Shibuki set the encrypted letter down on his desk next to his seemingly endless piles of paperwork. It's been less than two months and the young leader was being pulled into a dangerous game of politics. He could easily send two capable ninja to help his friend earn his freedom and he would be accepted here with open arms. It would be the least he could do for showing him what it meant to be a true leader but did Naruto have to get himself into trouble this quick.

Shibuki began his routine of stamping papers one by one. Most were complaints of a certain mint hair girl he knew about petty thievery and obnoxious behavior but Shibuki never acted out on punishing her for it. In fact, it was almost like he would encourage the behavior by saying they deserved it for treating her so poorly. Others were trade agreements that would increase the revenue for the Waterfall Country thus better the funding for their ninja and the general populace but for now the young leader wanted some time to clear his head. With a quick hand sign, he formed a water clone with the orders to only do simple stamping paperwork. The clone was forbidden to stamp anything serious that he would have to know for future purposes. The clone understood the routine and went to work reading the papers carefully before stamping. Once Shibuki knew everything was under control, he made his escape through the window out looking the village he swore to protect.

Shibuki strolled through the streets of his home and made sure to stop by the local shops to discuss late taxes. The young leader's mind was at ease now that he understood his father's decisions in life and those choices inspired him to be just as good of a leader as he was. He even started taking special training sessions to improve his combat efficiency ever since the 'Suien Incident' that happened almost less than a month ago.

After that incident, Shibuki began training. Day after day he spent his free time sparring against his Jonin guards, well being tossed around day after day was more accurate. From one of his guards, he believed that Suien trained him enough to get by but not enough to defeat the missing-nin in combat. In other words Suien planned the whole raid from the beginning and set the young leader to fail, even with the Hero's Water. A leader should be able to defend the village from anyone especially from their Jonin teacher. Atleast he was making progress with his training not as much as he wished but it was still progress nonetheless.

"I guess I should go make sure she went to her appointment and see if she'd like to get some fresh air," Shibuki said.

Shibuki broke out in a full sprint then leapt into the nearby trees to get to the village hospital with no distractions from passerby citizens. If he had to choose a capable ninja or two to escort Naruto, he had a good idea of someone he could trust to do it and at this time she should be at an appointment at the hospital that he specifically ordered. Once her symptoms started interfering with her missions, he demanded the she went to see a professional for it.

Her condition never interfered until her most recent mission. It was a simple escort mission to get some merchants from the Hidden Grass Village safety to the Hidden Stone Village. Everything went smoothly until a group of marauders launched an assault on the caravan once they got into the Stone Country. The bandits were easily fended off but during the skirmish, she lost control of herself and went on a rampage. It took both her teammates to hold her down and get her under control before she could do any serious damage. She claims that her head started pounding, vision started clouding and then everything went blank. Not that she blacked out, she literally could not remember anything, anyone or why she was even there. She thought she was being abducted due to the littered bodies and two shinobi approaching her. The fact that they lost their headbands during the fight made it difficult to prove they were Taki-nin right away. The fight left a few injuries but no casualties thankfully but since that incident she hasn't been on a mission since and she was not aloud until she was cleared mentally stable.

Her symptoms were labeled with constant headaches that ruined her concentration, occasional loss of sensory and movement control, always tired from little to no activities, depression, memory loss and her hormones have been out of whack. She was close to the young leader and the diagnosis struck him with grief but as long as she stuck with the treatments, they said she would be fine. So Shibuki ordered her to go for her treatments and there no chance for compromises. She always had to be reminded of her appointments to otherwise she would try to avoid them at all cost due to the villagers and the harsh glares they gave her. She was never popular with the common folk at all so any chance to avoid them was a blessing in disguise for her.

Shibuki, lost in thought, didn't realized he passed the hospital. Not by much but enough to waste a bit of time to back track. The hospital wasn't the best medical building in the world but they made due with the medical ninja they had. Shibuki did wish they had staff as talented as the Legendary Sanin Tsunade but he couldn't have everything he wanted now could he. With time though, the village would be just as good as any of the Five Great Nations.

He pushed the double glass doors open that lead to the main waiting area for visitors or others that had come in to make appointments. The area only had three people sitting down waiting to be seen by their doctors and two kids playing a little card game to pass time in the boring environment. The place wasn't to crowed due to new safety regulations Shibuki passed a couple weeks ago to prevent serious injuries. The receptionist saw the village leader, stood and properly greeted him before he even reached the counter to speak with her. She began shuffling through papers that was on her desk as he returned the greeting and asked to see if she checked in.

"I'm sorry Lord Shibuki but she hasn't checked in today. Our attempts to contact her failed. If you see her, can you please have her come her immediately for a overall check up?"

"Yes," Shibuki nodded. "I might know where she is now so I'll make sure she comes over here right away, even if I have to escort her myself."

Shibuki left and was angry to put it lightly. These appointments were mandatory for her health and she knew that. So the fact that she avoided her daily hospital visit, burned the young leader up. Leaving the hospital with a cool head, he leapt from tree to tree, with him anger overflowing, checking all her usual hiding spots but to no avail. She wasn't at her private training grounds on the opposite side of the giant tree that marked the center of the village, nor at her favorite fishing spot where she caught her food and she wasn't playing pranks on the villagers, which surprised Shibuki the most.

There was one spot though she had, a place that no one knew existed within Takigakure, not even he knew about it until she showed him. It was behind a waterfall in a small cavern around where she built her home but the only thing was the waterfall had stones blocking the entrance so it appeared to be an everyday waterfall. The real entrance was within her home she built.

Shibuki arrived at her abode just to sigh with distress. The roof was slowly caving in, the outside of the home was graffiti with insults such as "bug freak" or "pesticide this place" along with a few profanities, rocks cluttered around the floor of her home, glass shards around the floor from the rocks that flew through her windows, piles of dishes stacked up in the sink and the trash can was overflowing with garbage. It was kind of depressing when he thought that not only did she live like this but that the villagers vandalized her home in such a manner. He vowed to himself to find whoever did this and would punish them by ordering a cleanup and rebuild the place from the ground up. That would be a punishment for anyone who would vandalize. Might keep them from doing it ever again.

The inside of her home was dark. The light bulb appeared the have been burned out at some point in time when Shibuki flipped the switch and nothing happened but that was fine because it was easy to hide the entrance when it was dark. He opened up the cabinets under his friend's sink. It looks like any other cabinet but he pushed the false panel under the sink to find the ladder that lead to her secret spot. The tunnel went down for about twelve feet and then tunnel across what felt like an eternity to get pass the cavern wall and behind the waterfall but what was on the other side was a sight to behold.

Shibuki popped his head out of the darkness to see a small enclosed meadow. The green grass that circled the area was fresh and as lively as ever with no sign of wilting, a small crystal blue pond in the center with a few fish swimming in the center that she would feed, butterflies fluttering around landing on the flower bushes she planted a while back, a rather large hive clung to the cavern wall and was swarming with honey bees, it was where she got her obsession with honey once she learned that the bees would not sting her, the cave made a natural hole at the top for a skylight allowing a source of natural light to beam down in her hiding place and the small grape vines and tomato bushes seemed to be growing much better compared to the last time Shibuki saw them. Without much effort, he found who he was looking for sitting at the pond with her feet dipped in and leaning back on the flat stone.

"Fū! Why didn't you go today for your treatment?" She was silent to his question. "Fū answer me! This is serious and you heard what they said about your condition. You have to go everyday for your treatment. Don't you want to be healthy and have friends like you want?"

Fū was still quiet and that worried Shibuki. She never gave him the cold shoulder treatment and his worst thoughts became reality. Her eyes were close and her face was pale white.

"Fū!" Shibuki picked her up and checked her pulse. "Come on Fū wake up…I know you're stronger than this."

"Shibuki," Her orange eyes slowly fluttered open. "It hurts…I can't move and I can barely see…help."

"It's okay Fū I'm here," Shibuki got Fū onto his back and took off as fast as he could. "We'll get you to the hospital. I need you to stay awake though okay? How long have you been unable to move?"

"I don't know…I lost my vision and I couldn't navigate my way out…I remember going for my treatment then resting by the pond…how long has it been?"

"You haven't checked in at all today. Wait are you telling me you've been unable to move or see nearly twenty-four hours?!"

"I'm sorry Shibuki…I couldn't contact you with my beetles…I couldn't concentrate."

"It's okay Fū I understand. I'll give you a special way to contact me from now on but let's focus on getting you treated."

Shibuki never moved so fast in his life. He usually could only leapt three trees at a time but he was clearing atleast twice that much. It just showed how much he cared for the mint haired girl. Reaching the hospital in record time, he rammed open the door shouting for immediate attention. The medical staff rushed to their leaders aid and put the girl on a bed and rushed her to the Critical Treatment Unit. The medical ninja knew their leader wanted to be by her side but they insisted that he had to wait in outside. Rules were rules after all.

By the time the sun set, the CTU light turned off signify that the visitors could enter. Shibuki didn't even hesitate to run through the doors and searched every room for Fū. He found her at the end of the hall in a small bed connected to an IV. He grabbed her medical sheet on the front of her bed and scanned over it over and over again to process what happened.

Her condition had gotten worse as of yesterday. The effects of her treatment must have been rejected somehow and worked with an opposite effect which increased the probability and how long her conditions would last. Her treatments were switched with a new formula that worked like the last one but with diferent key components to prevent any kind of rejection. To make matters even worse, it appeared that a blood clot lodged itself in her carotid artery and nearly caused a stroke and her morphine dosage had been increased for the pain. Luckily he got her there in time otherwise the clot would have caused a fatal stroke. He wiped the sweat of his brow and dried his hand on his shirt. Atleast she was safe now and being taken care of properly.

"Shibuki," Fū whispered. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you earlier."

"Hey it's okay," Shibuki said sympathetically. "We got you stable and you got your treatment. According to your charts, you'll be free to leave in a couple days and once you get out, I might have a mission for you if you're interested in getting some fresh air."

"What about my condition and my treatments?"

"I'll be sending you and two others. I'll be sure one is a trusted medic so you won't have to worry about that. I'll fill you in with the details later. Just rest for now and once you get out well talk."

Shibuki put Fū's charts back and made his way to Fū's side. He parted her hair slightly to see the scar on the left side of her head that traced her hairline. He was worried for her life but with the treatments and her special friend, she would pull through, he knew that for a fact. With a friendly kiss on the forehead he let Fū go back to sleep and started to leave.

"Shibuki, where are you going?"

"Back to my office. I had to clear my mind to make a tough decision. Thanks to today I know what I'm going to do."

"Oh okay then. What was it you had to do?"

"I'm going back to my office to write a letter to someone. I'll be saving another friend's life thanks to my actions today."

Shibuki left the room in silence and back to his office. His mind was made up and after Fū's incident he was even more set on his choice. Life was a precious gift and everyone deserved a chance. Naruto will live and Shibuki will repay his debt to him for helping him see what a leader truly was.

"Naruto, you risked you life to save my people and helped me find my courage. Today I use that courage to save your life. If Konoha discovers that I helped you and tries to take me out, I will fight until my last breath knowing what I do today…was the right thing to do!"

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**A/N: Now before anyone says anything about this chapter! Let me explain. I watched the "Protect the Hidden Waterfall" to determine a few things. 1) whether or not this was before or after the chunin exams and 2) how long it had to have been. Sakura didn't have the short hair until after the forest of death and since she did during this, it had to have been after but Sasuke had access to chidori at the end of the chunin exam arc and sense it was not shown at all during this, i cannot conclude that it was after. So my theory is that this took place during the training grace period they had to prepare. They would still have to take mission to avoid slacking off so it is a good excuse.**


	6. Chapter 5: What in the hell

**A/N: Finally! We're back in business people...well not entirely. With my college work keeping my busy and work tanning my hide it's difficult to keep up regularly. On top of new technical problems with my computer. It seems between now and some months ago my internal fan broke and now has random shutdowns to prevent overheating. Which makes no sense because i rigged the stupid think to cool off water. Really it looks more like the Hoover Dam strapped to a metal box than a computer. So i can need to replace that, if not remove it all together and install a new coolant, to fix this shutdown bs every five to ten minutes. So thank you everyone for your positive feedback on the latest chapter and thank you for being so patient with me and the new chapter. **

**So here we are the next chapter and some real moments involving Fu. Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 5: What in the hell makes you think I'm going to ask?**

Shibuki's office was, for once, void of all paperwork. He simply stared at the three ninja before him ready for the assignment he called them for and all three arrived with no signs of hesitation. Standing between the two other ninja was one of Shibuki's elite Jonin guards, Sujin. He was recently assigned the task of protecting the Taki leader but at the same time train him to be better than when he was trained by Suien. He's efficiently skilled in taijutsu, lacks in genjutsu but excels in water based ninjutsu. On his right was a well trained medical ninja Ichuru. She joined the hospital and trained under the best in Takigakure for eight years and showed great promise, however she has had little practice out in the battlefield but the mission called for little to no combat so it was acceptable. Finally, the last ninja in the room was Takigakure's most mischievous child, Fū.

"I don't think I have to tell you three why you are here," Shibuki said. "But nonetheless I'll inform you what the mission is then you can all be on your way and prep ahead of time."

Shibuki handed each ninja a folder as thick as a math textbook from the academy. Fū just pinched the folder tighter so the contents would spill out, Ichuru tried to open the folder but slammed it shut when the papers nearly fell out and Sujin was the only one able to hold and open the folder without any trouble flipping each page one by one.

"The folders contain data about your teammates," Shibuki said. "Study them well and learn their strengths and weaknesses, how they can help the team and what can they bring to the table. The mission is seek and escort, find the boy and bring him back here. This mission is one of grave importance to me so failure is not an option. Any questions?"

"I have a question Lord Shibuki. I understand the idea of a medic ninja but why must we bring her along?" Sujin asked pointing at Fū. "She is nothing more than a prankster. While I know she did graduate from the academy with passable scores, she has been know for childish antics during a mission and we have all heard about the caravan incident."

Fū looked down to the floor he face red with embarrassment. Ever since that mission, it had become difficult for her to do anything higher than a D-rank due to the fact that no one wanted her on their team and not a single person in the village blamed them.

"While her mission with the caravan was something out of the ordinary, her skills in tracking and locating are an important part of this mission. You will be in a forest to hide your presence, searching for your escort and Fū's ability to charm insects is invaluable."

Fū glanced back at Shibuki with her embarrassment replaced with confidence. She smiled and started to believe in herself just as Shibuki believed in her.

"Very well Lord Shibuki. If you believe she is a vital part of this recovery team, then I will not question it."

"Good. You all will leave in three days to reach the rendezvous point I added to your reports. Get yourselves ready ahead of time and get to know your team. You're dismissed."

The ninja left and Shibuki let out a held breath. It went better than he had originally expected. He thought at first that Fū would make a scene out of the mentioning of the caravan or that Sujin would continue to belittle her. Ichuru stayed quiet and that gave Shibuki some kind of reassurance that maybe she did not care for Fū's past actions as long as they stayed there. The young leader was so lost in his thoughts of what ifs that he did not even notice that he was not alone. He lifted his head to see a young girl with mint green hair and bright orange eyes staring back at.

"I have a question."

"Gah! Fū what have told you about sneaking up on people like that?"

"You said 'It shows that you have excellent stealth capabilities and may be able to approach any and all adversaries,'" Fū said attempting to mimic Shibuki. "I was also surprised that you didn't see that I was standing right here."

"Alright, alright," Shibuki said holding his hands in a surrendering manner. "So what's your question and I'll answer it."

"Who's your friend? The one we're going after."

"You know who he is Fū. The one I always spoke so highly of. He showed me what is meant to be a true leader, an inspiration to my people."

"You never told me his name. That would be nice."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I never told you his name," Shibuki laughed sheepishly. "Naruto. His name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Fū, satisfied with her answer, nodded her head and made her way to the door. She turned the golden door knob and pulled the door open but just before she left she turned back to Shibuki one last time.

"Oh hey Shibuki by the way, I kind of got my library card revoked. The lady won't tell me why she just says 'you know why.' Think you can help me with that?"

Shibuki nodded and began writing something on paper that Fū could barely make out. She didn't recognize the encryption style Shibuki was using so she guessed it was the one he was using to help plan this 'Naruto Uzumaki' person escape. If he was friends with Shibuki, maybe she could be friends with him too. She recognized his last name but she didn't know where from though. She decided to go home, pack up her stuff and get herself ready for the long trip for her in the next three days.

Fū's walks home usually consists of long walks along the road, harsh stares of all the local people and the occasional trash being thrown at her. Once it got interesting when some of the villagers got drunk and tried to attack her but ended just as quick as it started when she put their drunken asses into the ground. A trained ninja against three intoxicated civilians, it was an easy guess as to who won that match up. Though the girl wished for one day everyone could just let her be and allow her some kind of peace while she walked home.

Fū was also banned from a lot of the stores she once visited to buy food and other necessities by the owners claiming that she drove other customers away. Which was one other reason she carved that small chunk of paradise out and made it self-sufficient so she wouldn't have to worry too much about food but she could not create materials needed for hygiene. While she was able to bath and keep her health at tip top shape, it usually came from the results of her distracting the shopkeepers and her beetles carrying of her products. While Fū didn't take any pride in the fact that she steals from the locals, she never really saw it as her fault but theirs for refusing service to her.

It was a rough life for her but she managed to stay on top and not let the villagers bring down her mood. Despite all the harsh treatments though, there was one thing bothering her today.

"Uzumaki…Uzumaki…Uzumaki…where have I heard that before," Fū muttered to herself while rolling a rock under the ball of her foot. "Have I met someone named Uzumaki?" Fū rolled the chunk of earth to the tip of her toes then, using the momentum, flicked it up and balanced it on the top of her foot. "No that's not it. Where then?" Fū then launched the rock off her foot into the lake that composed a good portion of the village.

Of all the things that have happened throughout her life, nothing had bothered the kunoichi so much before but the name she seems so sure of eluded her. The only thing was that she could not remember where and she was sure it would go with her to her grave if she could not figure out why soon.

"Gah!" Fū shouted tugging lightly at her green hair. "I'd give up Chōmei to know where I heard that name before!"

"**How rude of you and here I thought I was your best friend little larva.**"

"You are. It's just a figure of speech like saying 'I'd give an arm and leg for this,'" Fū said trying to impersonate Shibuki once more. "I just don't remember where I heard that name before. You usually keep track of all the stuff I do though, so do you remember?"

"**Hmm,**" the large beetle pondered. "**If my memory serves me correct, and it usually does unlike yours, you saw it in that big purple book on your bookshelf, which is late by the way.**"

"Ahh that's why my card got revoked. I forgot about that book. Stupid memory losing brain. Do you know why my head it the way it is Chōmei? After all, you practically live there."

"**This again little larva? I've told you almost a hundred times now. You have…**" Chōmei's voice suddenly went silent to Fū. It was like he just stopped talking but she could sense that he was still communicating to her or atleast trying too. This would happen all the time when Fū would question her condition and Chōmei would answer. Suddenly and without any reason, there connection would be severed so they could not hear one another. Fū knew but was not sure if the Seven-Tails even knew about it or cared at all. "**That about sums up your condition. So just make sure you go to get that medicine the doctors give you and I'll focus on the rest.**"

"Right," Fū said. "Sorry about that Chōmei. You know me, the forgetful little larva."

The large beetle only sighed at his host. While Fū was his favorite, he did have some things he disliked about her and the fact she could barely remember things was one of them. Atleast she would meditate to focus and clean up her mental state so the two could communicate easier. Chōmei felt less like a weapon in her hands and more like a comrade that fought side by side. It was much more of an improvement than the last one so the Seven-Tails was much more forthcoming when it can to aiding the body he dwelled within.

Her obsession to make one-hundred friends was also something the Tailed-Beast was curious about. While she stated she only has two so far, Shibuki and the Seven-Tails, Fū never really tried to make anymore friends inside the Waterfall Village. Mostly saying they lost their chance due to how rude they were and Chōmei never once failed to side with her on that. While she had some sort of acquaintanceship with fellow ninja, that was just about it. No hanging out with them, no getting a drink or out to eat, no nothing. The beetle would even think to himself that she was just as lonely as he was but that is the cost of hosting a Tailed-Beast.

Not to mention that everyone saw the beast and not the human. While Fū was, in every aspect, human she did show some similarities to himself. Her eyes were a bright orange, much like his, but atleast her hair maintained its mint color than becoming the color of his shell much like his last host.

The one thing though that annoyed Chōmei more than Fū's memory, or lack of in his case, were the constant attempts on his favorite host's life.

"**Larva we have trouble incoming on our seven!**"

Without hesitating or questioning, Fū pulled a kunai out of her sleeve and blocked incoming shuriken aimed for her thigh. Chōmei alerted her of the enemies nearby with the help of the local insects crawling around the trees they hid in. Five enemies in total. Positions at 4 o'clock, two at 5 o'clock, one on her six and the last now moving to her two.

"Alright I'm sick of this already. I just want to go home, take my medication, take back that library book, maybe check out another one, read it and bathe. But no some assholes just have to spoil whatever evening I have. Chōmei, would you kindly?

"**It would be my pleasure.**"

The moment of silence in the area Fū resided was broken when several screams came from the treetops and four men plus a woman fell off the branches they perched themselves on and writhing through their skin was what appeared to be lumps in their skin crawling around until the lumps made their way to the skull. From there it was just silence from her attackers. Just spasms and jerks from their bodies.

"What insect did you summon this time? Last were leeches and the time before that spiders. Were they scarabs?!" the girl cheerfully chimed.

"**No. Scarabs do not eat flesh. They are dung beetles so the way they are built would not allow them to burrow through flesh. I used Dermestid beetles. Commonly referred to as skin beetles.**"

"Any specific or just Dermestid?"

"**Just the scavenger ones. The ones we saw in that deer carcass awhile back.**"

Fū flinched at the thought of flesh eating insects in her body. Made her thankful that Chōmei was on her side and had no intentions of getting on his bad side any time soon.

With her attackers dealt with, for the most part, she skipped along home to touch up on her notes of her comrades and return that book with the keyword Uzumaki. Her heart raced with excitement just at the thought of rereading a book with interesting information. She could go through a book like a certain blond could go through ramen noodles. Her latest record was two thousand four hundred and ninety-two words in one hour and still retain all the information from said book. If given the opportunity she would read as much as an entire library worth of knowledge if she could but there was no library that could sate her hunger for knowledge.

Fū's stomach growled at the idea of food and now the kunoichi ignored the many glares she may have received at the point and flew through the town to get home. If her memory served her correct, and it did thanks to Chōmei, her pears were ready to be harvested. Fruit, the precious gift from above.

Riding the air currents with Chōmei's wings were one of her favorite abilities. The wind flowing through her hair, the feeling of the water under her toes as she skid across the water and not to mention though feeling of freedom. No gravity to weigh her down to the surface that tormented her so but the fresh air of freedom that no one else could ruin for her.

With her home insight, she put her wings in overdrive and darted toward her door then with a quick kick, Fū's door was on the ground, once more. Her home was rebuilt from the ground up after Shibuki made an order that any vandalization to her house would be an immediately night in the prisons and any damage would be paid for. That last part was her favorite thing out of all the rest. Make a few clones, turn into a few 'drunken' villagers, smash up her home and then those people would have to pay her the 'damages they did.' All the while this would happen, a sad girl with mint hair would be comforted by the Village leader, get her home fixed for free and a nice bit of money in her pocket. Corrupt as it sounded, she had to make money somehow.

"Chōmei you said it was the purple one right?"

"**Indeed. Page one thousand and one begins the Uzumaki clan.**"

The book was titled "Powerful Clans: Past and Present" and did it hit the nail on the head. The entire book was based on clans that had either overpowered kekkei genkai or ridiculous ability with specific jutsu. A clan under the name "Hanabusa" were ninja capable of manipulating wind and water simultaneously to create a "Typhoon Style" series of techniques but the book claimed all were wiped out due to being a potential threat to the Five Great Nations. Another was a Konoha clan called the "Hyūga" with their powerful dōjutsu, the Byakugan. Having three hundred degrees of vision and seeing your opponents chakra points seemed both amazing and deadly.

"Here it is…Uzumaki."

The book had over one hundred pages dedicated to the "extinct" clan. Down from their sealing techniques, to their red hair and straight to their longevity. Fū was in awe that Shibuki knew someone this capable and if what was said was true about this Naruto Uzumaki, then he was incredibly-

"Awesome!" Fū screamed as she fell off her chair backwards onto the hard wooden floor but the adrenaline from her excitement kept her from feeling anything and in fact she bounced up from it giggling with overjoyment. A friend like this was something she always wanted. "Maybe he would like to hang out and play games! Maybe he'll share some of his sealing techniques with me and train! Oh Chōmei isn't this cool?!"

"**No it is not.**"

"How can you say no? A new person in the Village that has no idea who I am. This is an opportunity to hang out and-"

"**He is being rescued which means he will always be under the watchful eye of Shibuki and his men. We won't be able to go near this guy if he is part of a supposedly extinct clan. On top of that how do you know he would even want to be near us? Playing games and sharing clan secrets? I don't think so. And how old is this person? Possibly pretty old.**"

Fū just now thought of that. All those possibilities of this person not liking her or being so old he would not even fathom the idea of being around someone of her age. Her mind just set a scene if the Uzumaki was her age, if not a little closer to Shibuki.

_"Hey Naruto!" shouted the seven-tail's host. "Wanna play a game of backgammon? Or maybe go one or two rounds of conditional sparring?"_

_ The red haired teen simply glared back at her with text books as high as a filing cabinet._

_ "I'm busy. I have to perfect my people's sealing techniques so I can better myself so I won't have to be bothered again."_

Another scenario of if he was old.

_"Hey Naruto, I thought you would like to unwind with something eat. Maybe if you're not too busy maybe you could teach me a few things in the way of sealing jutsu."_

_ The shriveled man slowly stop up, balanced himself with his cane and stroked his long, graying beard._

_ "As fun as that sounds young one, I'm just too old to do any of those things."_

Fū pouted.

"**Okay I did not say they were that bad but who knows.**"

Fū, with a sudden burst of confidence, shut her books and made her way toward the empty opening that was a door.

"**Where are you going?**"

"To return this book to the library, get my card back and go to the jutsu section of the library."

"**Why? You tore through most of the water techniques, half of the wind, you're welcome, and gave up on earth and fire due to complaints. Why now all of a sudden?**"

"If I'm going to meet someone skilled in sealing techniques, then I'll make 'him' interested in me."

The Seven-Tails chuckled finally understanding what it was his host was up to.

"**Good luck. You must atleast have some experience or have a Jonin to sign off to get a hold of the sealing jutsu scrolls.**"

"There are two ways to skin a deer Chōmei. And two ways to obtain jutsu."

"**Then tell me something little larva. What makes you think they are going to give you the scrolls when you ask?**"

"For as long as I can remember I've been lied to, taken advantage of, stabbed in the back by those I thought that cared and left for dead on several accounts." Pulling out a large syringe from her other sleeve, she uncapped the needle, inserted the metal rod deep into the vein in her arm and let the drug for her ailment do its job. She let out a slow sigh of orgasmic relief before coming back into reality with a smirk on her face that screamed up to no good. "What in the hell makes you think that I'm going to ask for it."

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**A/N: Alright some infiltrating in the next chapter. I hope this reached the expectations you guys wanted. I've been under a lot of stress with grades and work to pay the bills. I'll try to keep the ball rolling from here on out and avoid any ruts in the future. Thanks for reading everyone you make it possible.**


	7. Chapter 6: Time to Sweep

**Feels like it's been forever. Sorry guys for a long wait. Had to move several times the past few months. One of those moves including moving out of the state. Now I'm going to be working two jobs and focusing on my storyboard for Bethesda. I'll keep writing and posting as often as I can. So wish me luck guys and enjoy.**

**Oh and on a side note I got this weird email from "Inkitt." What is that?**

**Disclaimer: Long overdue for this thing. I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. This also goes for any previous chapters I have posted without a disclaimer or any future chapters i may post without a disclaimer.**

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The library was Fū's favorite place in Takigakure to be. It was the one place where she could be herself and no one would discriminate her for who she was. Get any book for her reading pleasure and turn it in when she was done with it and jutsu scrolls for her to learn more techniques and to past time. To her knowledge of being a shinobi, she had no need to worry of turning in anything late. Well up until her library card had been revoked for holding a late book for so long.

It wasn't even her fault though. She had horrible memory loss when it came to short-term and, occasionally, long-term. How could she be held responsible for the results of her condition. A condition that was withheld from her from everyone at the hospital, even Shibuki refused to tell her. Not even Chōmei made her condition clear. It was just static when he spoke about it.

Fū may have lost her library card to enjoy her primary hobby but she still had her resources to enjoy her secondary hobby; she enjoyed sweeping. Not the kind of sweeping that involves a broom and dust pan but the kind of sweeping that involved walking inside a room and "sweep" the place of anything that the Jinchūriki wanted.

One could say Fū was a thief but it was something she read in a lot of her novels and she could sympathize with them. Stealing to survive, hated by society and outcasts. She was just like them. So stealing became one of her all time hobbies, if one could even call it that. Break-in and clean the place of her targeted items: food, money, jewelry and, her favorite items, books.

Fū always enjoyed the rush when it to stealing. Like a lot of thieves in her books she would always read. The rush of adrenaline that would flood her body when she was under watch, the relief of a successful sweep and the joy of going home to enjoy her spoils. Of course there were risks, there were always risks, but sweeping quickly became one of her favorite things to do.

The best part of her hobby was that she was never caught. The things she would steal were always too small to investigate. Ten ryo there another twenty there, books that were cheap to replace and food that could have been blamed on midnight binges so no one ever looked into it. Sure the jewelry would be looked into but Fū had her sources of moving her stolen goods for some quick cash but when her contact was gone, she always had her hiding spot cut out behind her home.

However what she planned to do was riskier than any other sweeping job she had ever done. The Jinchūriki planned to steal scrolls containing sealing techniques. Those scrolls were some of the most important objects Taki had in their possession, next to the Hero's Water and the legendary Jiongu Technique. Those scrolls were so powerful, not even the highest level of Jonin were allowed to look at them without the leader's consent. The scrolls were heavily guarded by some of the best Jonin, kept inside some of the strongest locks money can buy and sensory ninja practically everywhere. Despite all of this though, it had one problem and that would be that the place had a rather large infestation problem.

Most people wished to blame her for this but she made it aware that if any insect was under her influence, then it would have some of the Seven-Tails chakra flowing through it. She was cleared after a quick sensory ninja verified the difference and she had nothing to do with the infestation. To their knowledge she was innocent but she may have had a small hand in the matter. It may not have been for the sealing scrolls originally, but Fū had been plotting to break into there for some time now.

She lured the local bugs in by using a special honey that caused any type of insect to reproduce at a fast rate, their growth nearly doubled but also very addictive for bugs. All she had to do was keep letting the honey ooze through the small cracks in the wall and let her friends go to town. The honey was clear and odorless so everyone was none the wiser about her involvement.

Her original target though was the legendary Water Slicing Blade that was stored inside but this technique was not like the others. It was apparently infused with both wind and fire chakra to mix with the water. The fire heated up the solid water while the air fueled the fire so it would not be extinguished inside. It created a controlled Boil Style type of blade. The Boiling Water Blade technique was the outcome of this infusion but was quickly sealed off for no one to use but also because no one had the type of element mastery to wield it after its creator pasted away. It was something she had been planning ever since she tricked Shibuki to tell her of the technique's existence but now she has that and a few more targets to look at.

Her plan was to sneak in using her Hiding in Camouflage technique to slip in, swap the scrolls and escape but the powder had a few flaws. If it caught any form of light, it would shine and would give away her location which was something she could not allow to happen. Second was that it only lasted for a few moments and took awhile to create the dust so she would be a sitting duck if she relied on it for too long and lastly, and most importantly, everyone in the village knew she was the only person with a technique that did such a thing. So if she used it to hide or escape, then she was caught regardless if she were able to hide.

So Fū had to come up with a more delicate approach. All the books she had read about expert thieves and all of their adventures have all had one thing in common. No super techniques, no knock out gas and no smoke and mirrors but one useful trick. It took Fū almost an entire year to completely master the trick in secret and in that time it had proven useful. The ability to throw her voice to other places.

Most other people did it with childish puppet shows but more practice people, thieves, found a much better use for it. The simple combination of a thrown rock and an uttered voice across the room always gave the young girl so many opportunities to steal successfully. The best part is that she's tested it before with Shibuki's guards and they couldn't locate her position when her voice would appear elsewhere. It was quite the amusing prank at times.

So her hypothesis was that the guards charged with protecting the scrolls shouldn't be able to distinguish the difference either but just in case she had one more ace but it was a bit more harmful; her back up plan were hollowed eggs filled with sawdust and grinded glass shards. Quick and efficient. A bit cruel if help isn't sought but she'd be able to escape. She couldn't be discovered though and if it costed a fellow Takigakure ninja his eyes, then it had to be done.

Fū even took the precaution of discovery further by changing into a whole new wardrobe to throw off identification. Her new choices in clothing covered nearly every inch of her body, save for her eyes and restrictive joints, and there was no possible way to have any kind of physical identification of her unless they saw her orange eyes perfectly. Even her green hair was being pulled back and covered by the hood as it hugged her delicate body.

Her outfit, depending on her targeted location, varied from a shade of red to a dark blue. The colors blended with the shadows more than black, if showed at all, to even the trained eye. Fū had become the village's number one thief in her time there and if there was one thing she learned, is what colors blended with the night's cloak. So obviously she could not wear her typical white attire, despite being a ninja, otherwise she would be caught.

If that were the case, she would wear a bright color like orange, announce her presence to the world she was there and have some catchphrase at the end of here sentences. Who in their right mind would do something like that was beyond her.

Fū finally got her gear ready from her home and made her way to the library vault. So much maneuvering and planning had lead up to this day. Carefully crafting scrolls all afternoon and evening to resemble the ones she plotted to swap out perfectly and a few more for the sealing techniques she now recently desired. Constantly making trips to memorize the schedule pattern of rotating guards. The Jinchūriki would not turn back now after all the effort she had put into this heist. When she went sweeping, there wasn't a spot she would miss.

It was all about cause and effect when it came to these plans. Were her distractions good enough and did she get the job done. Only two plans fell apart and that was simply because her voice cracked when she wanted a guard to go down the hall and gave herself away. Luckily no one caught her and her projection wasn't discovered but worst of all she lost her flattop that was used in picking locks. The other was when her last lockpick broke and she had to go home empty handed. Small errors but nothing drastic but tonight called for zero percent failure rate. If she was stopped by one of the guards, then she would be sitting in the village prison for a long time and not even Shibuki would help her.

"**Child,**" Chōmei's voice echoed. "**You know the dangers of attempting your petty thievery on a place so heavily guarded. If you are caught, there is nothing I can do for you. Please cease this nonsense and go home.**"

Fū, ignoring her partner, put her bag down and worked her magic on the lock of the library door. While others focused on speed during locks, Fū preferred to take her time on locks she was unfamiliar with. Massaging the lock, caressing the tumblers inside and studying every rusty spring inside until she could do it without hesitating. The library lock however was her best friend when it came to memorized locks. The door was open before she knew it and was inside her home away from home.

Skulking through the halls of the library, the hallways were darker than usual without the natural lights shining through the window panels but despite this she was capable of navigating the way without bumping into a bookshelf or wall. After all it was her favorite place in the whole village so of course she had the layout memorized. The Jinchūriki thought it was so stupid to put the most dangerous scrolls inside the one public place the world could offer but then again "to hide a tree use a forest" and so on.

Kneeling once more to work on another lock, she felt shivers down her spine. Her partner was warning her to flee but she couldn't stop now. Years she put into this heist and she'd be damned if she was going to back down. While Chōmei did watch over her, sometimes he was worse than a nagging mother when it came to her hobby. Then again what kind of mother would support a thieving habit.

If her memory was correct, which usually never was, then she was fiddling with the right door lock that led to the upper level of the library. She was allowed access to the first two levels of the library but the remaining five levels were off limits. If she was of Jonin level, then the next two floors would have been easy to get away with if she was caught. Well if she was a Jonin, then she wouldn't be caught in the first place but that wasn't the case in her current situation. She could have been a Chunin but Jinchūriki status and no teammates kind of stunted that. Not to mention her accident that made her go berserk a ways back.

With a bit of effort and two picks later, the lock clicked and the door was free to open leaving her five more locks to get through before her target was in her hand. She could feel it in her bones that something was off. Why would she this nervous now after all the time and money she poured into this?

She focused her chakra, not Chōmei's, into any insects in the area. Her solid orange eyes began forming a hexagonal pattern similar to that of any bug out there and checked the area seeing through the eyes of her pets swarming the building. The four floors were clear with no one insight but the last floor was the exact opposite. Guards everywhere no matter what angle she looked through. There had to be almost three times the amount of guards there would usually be. All with gear like they were ready for war and anything would get through any minute.

"_How?_" Fū questioned herself.

There was no way they would have known she was going to strike tonight. Of all days, why did they step up security now? She never left any hints that she wanted to go inside. Were they aware of her growing interest with the Boiling Water Sword. No that couldn't be it.

Out of the eyes of a hiding spider, Fū saw why the guards were on high alert. The reason was standing in front of a purple barrier staring at a moderately large scroll. Shibuki was present tonight looking at Takigakure's most dangerous secret. Fū's dream target, the Jiongu scroll.

"_Why is Shibuki here and why is he staring at 'my' Jiongu with so much contempt?_"

"**Perhaps he will finally destroy that accursed technique. Look what happened to the last human that used it.**"

Fū, once more, ignored her partner's words and kept her little focus on her leader. Her little spy made its way closer using the cover of shadows and shelves in a poor attempt to eavesdrop on Shibuki and see what his reasons were as to be present. The arachnid scurried past ninja and over scrolls to get as close as possible to the young leader to catch the words he muttered to himself. The spider finally was able to make its way up his pant leg, over his shoulder and through his hair with no notice. Either the blood suckers were stealthy little buggers or Shibuki had no care about the world around him.

"Our village faces war father," Shibuki mumbled. "We have no access to the Hero's Water for a atleast another generation and our Jinchūriki has no proper training. This technique could be our only salvation… if I were to use this scroll and take it's curse upon myself, would you forgive me father?"

Fū was shocked to say the least. Shibuki, the leader of Takigakure, admitted that the Jiongu was there last hope in dark times. She remembered the history lesson he gave her about that scroll and all who read it descended into madness save the creator and the one other.

"My lord are you sure about this?" Shibuki's guard asked.

"I am. Have the preparations ready by tomorrow night around the same time."

The guard nodded and respectfully got his men together to prepare the needed ritual for the scroll. It would take all night and their undivided attention to get the scroll ready but if Shibuki believed it was necessary, then it would be done. The men guarding the upper library vault moved to new position, abandoning their usual posts and routines just to guard this one scroll for tomorrow. Shibuki, and his personal guard of six ninja, made their way to the exit and would eventually make it to the second floor.

Fū's lucky stars were lining up just for her it seemed but only for a moment. She had to conceal her presence before her friend and his men reached her level. If she didn't, well then his protectors would bust her then a long night or two in the village jail would be her punishment. That couldn't happen if she wanted to impress her soon to be Uzumaki friend now could it.

Fū scrambled trying to cling to the available shadows behind the library counter. Probably the worst place she could have chosen but when one panics, you don't really think. The Jinchūriki peeked over the countertop to scan the dark room of any disturbances and once the sign was clear that Shibuki and his guards haven't shown up, she leapt over her hiding place and attempted to find a better place to hide. Preferably a place out of sight and a place her apparel would blend much better.

Fū threw herself to the bookshelves and climbed her way to the top. The shelves were atleast eight columns high and need a ladder to get to the top self so no one would notice her unless they were specifically looking for her. She laid herself out on the top of the bookshelf looking over the edge waiting for her friend and his group of, so called, professional ninja.

She never really liked Shibuki's stuck up guards. They could never stop her from breaking into his private quarters on a daily basis. If they were the best and couldn't stop a twelve year old from sneaking into their leader's room at ungodly hours, then they should have to go back to the academy to cover the basics again. They were arrogant, their skills were close to mediocre and they thought just because they were put in charge of guarding the village leader, they were better than anyone else. She planned to change a few minds about that when her moment finally came.

The sound of a creaking door broke her silence that felt like an eternity. The light emanating from their lights covered a good portion of the library but none directed towards her so she was safe for the meantime. The guards stayed close to Shibuki staying in strict formation while simultaneously scanning for any possible threats or leaks of information. One of the guards even checked behind the library counter. Had Fū remained there, she would have been caught.

The guards were almost gone and out the door then she could venture up the next floors without worry of raising an alarm and pop into the vault while the others were preparing the ritual. Those scrolls would belong to her in short time. She just had to be patient.

"Go on ahead men and meet me on the base floor," Shibuki told his guards. "There is something on this floor that requires my attention. It will take but a few moments."

"Sir, with all due respect, we cannot leave you by yourself," answered one of his guards. "If something were to happen to you, we would be responsible."

"The floor has been secured and no possible threats lurk in the halls. Check the next floor ahead of time. That's an order."

Shibuki was calm and raised no argument with his guards. His men didn't even hesitate to obey his orders and left for the next floor. Why did Shibuki stay behind and have his men leave him here? She watched him drag his fingertips across the smooth surface of the library counter, making shadow puppets on the wall with his light and pacing like he was waiting for someone to approach him.

"Fourth bookshelf to the right," Shibuki said. Loud enough for people on his floor to hear but quiet enough to stay out earshot from the men below. "You're hiding up there. So come down. And say hello."

Fū's heart was pounding so hard, she thought that was what gave her away at first but no she knew Shibuki was a great ninja and the sheer fact that he discovered her when his men could not proved that even more. So discovered and defeated, she leapt down from her shadowy haven and came out from the shadows. Taki's leader shined the light on her person to reveal the young ninja's red outfit and her orange eyes.

"Well, well," Shibuki said not sounding surprised. "If it isn't the infamous thief that has been terrorizing my village. I wonder who it is hiding under that mask."

"Shibuki," Fū answered while taking off her mask revealing her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that. At first I figured you came here to mess with the computer to hack you card back into the active records or snag a book or two but your attire says much more is at hand. Come now tell your friend everything."

"I wanted to get some scrolls from the floors above. Improve my skills a little bit more before we went to save this Naruto guy is all."

"Some scrolls huh," Shibuki pulled a scroll from his back pocket and presented it to Fū. "The Boil Style Water Blade is the 'skill' that you want to improve on. Am I right?"

She laughed to herself. Shibuki was always on step ahead of her. He knew when there was something wrong before she said anything and would stop her from doing something stupid before she even thought of doing it. She wasn't surprised he got the scroll ahead of time and busted her in the act.

"And what were thinking? Going into a highly guard jutsu vault with your mediocre skills. I knew it was you for quick some time now but because the stuff you've taken were small so I let it go and said the thief would be caught with time a justice would be served."

"You knew…"

"You're talented when it comes to the shadows that's not a joke but you do tend to leave your mark on places and I know your tricks and signatures. You're the only ninja I know that likes wrapping her grips in orange. When the thief was nearly busted they ran and dropped a flattop behind. It was orange, Fū. Need to find a better trademark. So tell me the truth. Is this why you came here?"

The Seven-Tails laughed at Fū's misfortune. She had been caught so long ago but it was kept quiet. She thought she was so sly and one step ahead of everyone. Just went to show how important Fū was to Shibuki and just how much of a friend he was to pay attention to the small things Fū does over the years. He deserved to hear the truth. Might get the little jinchūriki in trouble but he stopped her and that was enough.

"I actually came here to snag the sealing scrolls on the top floor. So you were right about me going up there but not for what it was I was targeting. Yet if the offer still stands, I'll happily take that scroll and be on my way."

"First off if you think I'd let you go up there at this very moment, I'd accuse you of not taking your appropriate dosage. Secondly, there is no way I'd let you go up there for those sealing techniques, even if you were properly dosed. Lastly…" Fū flinched at the word 'lastly.' Shibuki would always annunciate that word when she was in trouble and her punishment would usually follow. "…I'm glad I stopped you before you got up there. We're in troubled times now Fū and there is something going on up there that could get you killed."

Fū shook her head determined to get what she wanted. She had planned this for a long time and would be damned if she would run away now.

"You're not stopping me Shibuki," Fū stood her ground. Shibuki could just call his guards at any moment and she would be as good as jailed but she knew him all too well. He wouldn't arrest her but will compromise. "Unless you have a better idea, I'm getting those scrolls."

"Well I don't want to stop you if your this adamant about learning sealing techniques. So perhaps I can give you an alternative. On the Jonin floor there is 'one' scroll on the basics of sealing. That will be a little safer in the hands of an amateur and less missed if it were to go 'missing' because no one has checked it out in over twenty years if the records are correct."

"_Is Shibuki suggesting we take that scroll over the better ones upstairs?_"

"**I'd take it over the ones upstairs any day. He's practically ordering you to do it. Safer and cleaner than running up stairs clashing weapons with people worlds above your skill. Besides if it is simpler than you'll learn it faster. Can't go wrong with that seeing that you have three days to practice.**"

Fū covered her face with her mask, deciding to take Shibuki's offer of the Jonin scroll. She merged herself with the shadows once more to find the door to the next level. The sound of a door clicking shut and the echo of rusty hinges moving was Shibuki's message of deal.

"What am I going to do with you Fū? Just try to stay out of trouble."

Alone once more, Shibuki placed the scroll on the desk counter near the door knowing Fū would spot it on her way out. While he did inform the Vault guards of its taking, he never said who it was for. His guess would be that they assume it was for the village leader so they let it be.

The scroll was more of a bribing method rather than a training tool and it seemed to work. Throw her a bone and she was happy. As long as there was another option that would expedite her own goal, she'd take it over the other route. So Shibuki telling her about the other sealing scroll on the floor just below the vault and that it would be simpler to master sparked more of an interest in her eyes. Not to mention it would fill her appetite for stealing. Fū was so easy to bribe.

That also made her easy to manipulate in the eyes of the counsel but Shibuki refused to be a part of their mind games. He wished to be uncorruptable but it looks like the winds of change may influence him to take advantage of some smaller organization to prepare for war. Not to mention Fū's part in any warfare they may have in the upcoming future.

"Don't worry Fū, I'll be taking care of you soon enough."


	8. Chapter 7: Take Me Jiongu!

**A/N: I'm soooo sorry guys about the long ass wait. I've been really wrapped up with a lot of stress as of late. Moving from state to state, trying to find work right away, no source of transportation and among other things. I'm here now and planning to get a new laptop so writing will not be limited to 10-30 mins a day. Stupid broken laptop. So here you guys go lets hope it was worth the wait.**

** Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Take Me Jiongu!

Nothing was more peaceful in Takigakure than the mornings when the sun would start to rise. Birds would begin chirping in their nests, the rhythm of the feathered chorus had awoken much of the villages inhabitants. From the lively insects such as butterflies that danced in the air to its local residents opening shops for business and early birds taking in the morning air. The residents enjoyed the secluded life they had, despite the troubles of an unknown war looming over the distance.

The bakery owner opened her door for the public, had finished her morning routine of sweeping the front area, ensuring the current stock was properly rotated and left some extra goods in the back for her favorite, orange eyed customer. Tailor departments hanging clothing up on racks and displaying their finest garments, featuring common wears to royal gowns and dresses, in the front of the store. Employees being greeted by their boss and beginning the shifts they were so use to.

Everyone in Takigakure were happy as always but some way more than others. Fū was one of those people living happier than the others. Doing her morning strolls with a bag of bread and individually wrapped mini sweet cakes, skipping along the public roads with a smile and humming a happy tune. She had every reason to be happier than anyone else because at home she had two scrolls that would make her better than most in the village. One that she had been practicing all night, after spotting it on the library counter, and the other would give her a new trick up here sleeve. Once she completed them, she would happily return them, after she copied them down for her own reviewing pleasure.

While lost in thought, Fū felt the rumbling in her stomach. She laughed to herself finding it ironic that her body would be telling her to eat just outside of her favorite food place. Giving into her needs for food and cravings, she lifted the curtain with her bandaged hand, entered the small food stand and hopped onto the red, cushioned barstool.

"Hey bros," Fū called out ringing the counter bell. "You two up yet? Got a customer that's really hungry."

"We hear you Fū," a voice responded. "We got our shipment today so Seiji is just putting it in the back."

"I get the honor to be served by Seiichi, the mighty first born, today," Fū jokingly mocked.

"Yes ma'am you do," Seiichi responded as he boiled water. "You up for something new or the usual?"

"My usual. Gimme noodles, first born!"

"You got it," Seiichi answered. "Now while I'm getting this around mind if I ask what happened to your arm."

"Oh I'm working on something new and got my arm banged up," Fū answered while examining her bandages. "Don't mess with Fire jutsu and Wind jutsu at the same time. There's my advice for the day."

"Yeah that'll get you good. Alrighty then let's get you food ready."

Seiichi got Fū's order set up and ready to be made. Placing the uncooked noodles on the clean cutting board in a bunched up pile, chopping up the vegetables with the chef knife with perfect precision, slapping small chunks of meat on the grill next each other perfectly and the sizzling sound of the searing meat made her mouth water.

Two twin ninja running a food place together was the best idea the two ever had together. Bringing their skills of speed, precision and dexterity to one of the most useful places ever. Inside of the kitchen. While the two rarely ever got along on the battlefield, the two did have perfect synergy in their little shack of a restaurant, once customers came in of course. Seiichi, the first born, a fact he proudly expressed, opened the place after his brother lost an eye to a mission gone wrong. His younger brother was ecstatic to hear the news of the food shack, his original career choice if one were to ask him.

The two were also the closest thing Fū had to family. They treated her well, occasionally gave her discounts when she was short on her meal and sometimes, on rare occasions, they would let her bunk with them when the weather got cold. Her favorite part about them though was her being able to be herself around the two just because the brother duo were just as goofy as she was from time to time.

"Order up!"

Fū snapped out of her nostalgia of the brothers to a large bowl of lo mein noodles with chucks of pork, beef and chicken along with some diced leeks, onions and carrots. She took in the aroma from her favorite dish, licked her lips, grabbed her utensils and consumed her food as if it would be taken from her at any minute.

"I added some extra veggies in there because I noticed you've been getting a little pale so enjoy the carrots. The Vitamin A is good for your skin so make sure you eat them all," Seiichi explained. "Oh and my brother and I will be going to a village east of here for a festival we got permission to go to. Think it's called the Hot Water Village. Not really much of a village but more like a tourist resort from what I've heard."

"You guys are leaving," Fū mumbled with a mouthful of food. "If you guys leave, then where am I suppose to get my fix?"

"Hey I thought friends were suppose to be happy for others good fortune," Fū and Seiichi looked at the back room door to see Seiji getting an apron ready, a big smile and his bandages covering the empty cavity where his right eye use to be. "Besides it'll only be for the season. You've been cut off way longer. Remember when your Scale Tornado took out three shops. If I recall one of those three buildings was our little shack here."

"Don't remind me," Fū whispered. "That was so embarrassing. I got scolded in front of everyone and had to pick the whole place up solo then help rebuild the shops. To be fair I did make your building first and made it bigger."

Seiji and Seiichi shared an amused glanced, smiles that could light up a room. Seiji nodded and Seiichi went to the back room after giving his brother a wink.

"Is that how it happened," Seiji asked. "All I remember is a cloud of dust then it was night for awhile. I never 'see' when all the fun happens."

"Seiji, shut up," Fū laughed. "You and your seeing puns. I hope one day you see how dumb they are."

Seiji just stared at Fū with a smile just waiting to laugh but he wanted his favorite customer to let what she said sink in. She took another mouthful of noodles and out of the corner of her eye, she looked at Seiji with that smile on his that he usually had after one of his silly eye jokes. The Jinchūriki stopped chewing for a moment to remember their conversation just a moment ago. Her face turned a shade of crimson and mumbled to Seiji in what they called food gibberish. The younger brother's laughter brought attention from the occasional passerby and Seiichi's chuckles could be heard from the back.

"Please tell me you heard all of that Seiichi," Seiji asked. "I don't think I'll ever be able to recreate that!"

"Yes I heard. Are you proud that you converted our number one customer to your dorky puns?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Well either way have Fū close her eyes. We have a present for her."

A present for her from her two favorite people in Takigakure. Her heart raced with joy, her feet swinging in anticipation and hands clapping together in happiness. She wondered what it could be as those two have done things like this before. Her first gift from them were several discount coupons good for a full year, which she used up in the first month alone, the second gift was a special stool for her use only, due to all the money she put in the place, they thought their number one customer should have a special privilege no one else had, and their most recent gift, two years ago, which was a birthday gift to her, a promise and an agreement that Fū, from that day til she passes, she was given one free serving of anything she desired, every day. That one was hands down the most generous thing anyone had ever done for her so for them to get her another gift, she would be grateful, whether it be a pair of socks to two free meals a day.

"Alright kid," Seiichi said. "You're free to open your eyes but try not to scream or wet yourself from happiness."

Her orange eyes focused after being shut for so long to see a cute, green apron with her name embedded on the top corner in orange, some papers next the apron along with a pen. She was confused at first but she grabbed the apron and felt how soft and smooth the cloth was. She smiled when she hugged it. The papers were a bit odd to her with questions asking if she was dependent and or claiming dependents. She never saw anything like this when she filled out her ninja paperwork. That paperwork just focused on taxes for missions and if she should die no one would be held accountable.

"I love the apron. It's cute but what's this," she asked holding the papers.

"To be honest it was Seiji's idea," Seiichi answered. "Took me a long time thinking to agree. It was put on the table when you told us your financial situation a ways back about teams refusing to do C-rank missions with you. We both know D-Ranks doesn't put enough money on the table so we both agreed to this. If you want, and after you fill out that paperwork, you can work with us for some extra cash as an employee. You'd be paid at the end of every week and you'll get one free meal, in addition to our usual agreement, while you're on clock."

"What do you say Fū," Seiji asked. "Wanna turn the Lo Mein Brothers Restaurant into the Lo Mein Family Restaurant?"

"Wait we're adopting her? When did this conversation happen?"

"Two nights ago. I asked you and you said yes then went back to sleep."

"You know I talk in my sleep Seiji so that doesn't count. We can talk about that la-"

Seiji tapped his brother and pointed at their newest employee. They thought she'd accept the position with joy but her hair covered her face. The green on her apron had dark spots on it already and her hands trembling. Seichii walked around the counter to check on her.

"Hey kiddo you okay?"

"Thank you," she said meeting the older brother's eyes with tears pouring out from her own. "Thank you so much for everything you two have done for me."

She hugged Seichii, wrinkling her apron between them but she didn't care at the moment. She had another place to call home away from home, team members to call friends and friends close enough to consider family.

"See Seichii," Seiji answered. "I told you she'd be happy."

"Well lets end the waterworks short and fill out the paperwork. After that you'll be free to make your own schedule. You still are a ninja after all so this'll be part-time work so it won't interfere with your actually job of protecting the village."

* * *

There was no way today could go wrong for her. No amount of verbal harassment, bullying or even a mob could ruin the day for her. Her training with her newest jutsu was improving, except for the injury her bandaged arm concealed, her part-time employment with her two favorite people in the village and to put the cherry on top for the perfect day, she was able to go home with sweet cakes, unwind with a bath and a nice scroll teaching the fundamentals on sealing jutsu she snagged in the Jonin tier of the library, thanks to Shibuki revealing its existence.

It was only about how the seals were made and basic sealing items in scroll and hidden compartments but it was still something she could use. The idea of hiding a whole arsenal of weapons in a single piece of paper was fascinating. The whole concept of sealing jutsu was interesting. She could use summoning techniques with her insects so she thought she would pick the whole topic up easily but it turned out summoning and sealing were two different fields of their own.

_"Today was a good day."_

**"Except for when you boiled your arm. There was a reason the technique was under tight security."**

_"I guess but trial and error right. So instead of Fire, Wind, Water let's try it backwards. Water for the base, hollow the inside with Wind and then we can fuel the Fire to wrap it up. That'll resolve the whole burning myself."_

**"Possibly. You also have all day tomorrow to work on sealing, which I would suggest if you want to get the basics. Try something small like a kunai or perhaps a worm."**

_"Why a worm?"_

**"It's living, and from what I've heard, sealing living creatures requires more exertion but a worm would require less chakra than most living creatures since it's small. Good practice. Imagine trying to seal me."**

_"That's true. To seal something of your size, from what I've read so far, it would require a vast amount of concentration and chakra. Sealing techniques are so amazing."_

**"While I will not disagree, I must bring up a new topic. I noticed that you did not inject yourself this morning nor go to that infirmary to be checked up on."**

Fū bit her lip remembering she didn't go but instead stayed up all night and morning working on the Boiling Water Blade. Shibuki would not be please to hear that not only did she not go to her appointments like she promised, but injured herself with the technique he obtained for her. He would be very mad at her and that would be the understatement of the year.

_"I'm gonna have to go in early tomorrow and get it done and out of the way. I'll blame memory loss. It usually gets me out of it and it's half a truth. I did forget. Plus I haven't had any pains or migraines today so I think I'm on the road to recovery."_

**"If you say so but that Jiongu technique that you want should be something you ignore if you wish to stay on that road."**

_"Hey thanks for reminding me. Shibuki said to prepare it for tonight. Thinking what I'm thinking?"_

**"No not really. I think we should leave it be but knowing you, you want to eavesdrop and see it in action."**

_"Oh Chōmei you know me oh so well."_

Leaving her home, she made her way to the library through a shorter path through the trees. Thank goodness for her training otherwise getting there before the sun went down would be close to impossible. She wanted to see the security level on the Jiongu barrier for future references. If she planned to obtain it one day during a sweeping session, then seeing what kind of security it had would be more than beneficial.

Not to mention that she could see how the technique was passed onto a person. Summoning contracts would require one to write his or her name onto the contract then print their fingerprints in blood while other things Fū had read had different circumstances. So being able to see Jiongu's contract in action tickled her inside. She was curious about what it was like.

**"Ever have the feeling where something bad is about to happen?"**

_"Sometimes but only when I miss a doctor's appointment or when I run out of my injections. Why?"_

**"Jiongu. The one time I saw it through the eyes of the insects inside the room, I was actually weirded out by it and I'm have ties with the One-Tails."**

_"You're not convincing me to stay away from it, it's mine. It's like us, misunderstood and scorned."_

Chōmei did not answer his host. The beetle king hovered inside the prison that was her mindscape, thinking to himself of all the negative possibilities that Jiongu could do to the Jinchūriki. Despite what he says about humans, he actually enjoyed the companionship Fū gave him.

_**"My poor larvae," **_Chōmei's thoughts echoed. _**"Some things in life are scorned for a reason. I'll let you learn that first hand."**_

The silence of her partner didn't worry the young Jinchūriki. He would not answer after running out of reasons or he realized when enough was enough. In fact he usually remained silent after a long argument the two would have from time to time. She took his silence though as a sign of defeat in the Jiongu matter. She had no desire to back down from what she thought was right. Her intuition about things were on spot most of the time.

Zipping through the branches of trees, her thoughts were going a mile a minute. While they focused on Jiongu, she began to worry about the safety of Shibuki. Would he be able to survive whatever the scroll had inside? He did use the Hero's Water with little negative effects present so the young Jinchūriki was sure he would be fine but what Chōmei said managed to plant a worry seed in the back of her mind. Nothing a change in topics and a theory conversation with the Seven-Tails couldn't help.

_"Hey Chōmei what do you think would happen if I drank the Hero's Water?"_

**"Hmm? An odd question but if I had to answer probably the same thing it did to Shibuki. Spike your levels up a bit. Why?"**

_"It wouldn't affect your chakra in anyway?"_

**"I think I would have drink it myself but the odds of me actually ingesting enough to make a difference would never happen in either of our lifetimes."**

The silence lingered again. Fū was beginning to feel guilty for shushing Chōmei. He always looked out for her even when he didn't have too. She didn't want him mad at her even if it meant giving up on Jiongu. He just believed that there was something wrong with it.

The Seven-Tails was the only person who sometimes enjoyed her theories so when the conversations stopped, she felt rather sad. It was ironic that one of her first friends was a giant demon bug creature that once had hatred for every living thing on the planet. Fū becoming the one exception.

_"Hey about Jiongu…"_

**"Forget it. I don't want to argue anymore over this thing. If you want it so bad, I don't think anyone is going to convince you if I could not."**

_"I wanna apologize about getting bleh about it earlier."_

**"Yeah but that would be out of character. How about you throw an insult my way and we call it even?"**

A smile appeared on her face. All her negativity vanished and worries replaced with a second wind of excitement. With the library in sight and the vault just floors above, the real fun would soon begin to play out. Fū would witness the power of her number one target for herself and would be able to support Shibuki, although it would be in the form of the nearby insects.

Fū let out a puff of fog, her breath visible to the naked eye. The air was cold around the library but warm everywhere else, the place seemed to be closer to death than a place of learning with the dark shadow that loomed over the building, even the trees appeared to be bending away from the building in fear rather than natural growth. It was eerie, to put it lightly.

He body shuddered, a chill down her spine, paranoia kicked in as if she was being watched by someone, or something, even simple tasks like breathing and swallowing saliva became difficult to manage. What was wrong with her had to be something unordinary. This was not her first trip to the library after sunset but it was the first time she felt this way.

Her orange eyes focuses on the lock of the door. The lock was simple, tumblers already memorized to her but something inside of her made her hesitate to want to grab her picks to open the door. Her hands were not steady, shaking at the lock's opening, she needed to calm herself and just open the door that was all.

She took a deep breath, held onto it and tensed her body up to have some kind of composure as she went to work on the lock. Her hands still tense but her fingertips still shaking under the spell of fear, she stopped to wipe the cold sweat covered her brow with here forearm sleeve and went back to work on the simple lock. The tumblers lifted and locked in place as she twisted the knob with the orange flathead and a satisfying click echoed around the premises.

The library inside was darker than the last time she had broken in to sweep the place of the sealing scroll and the Boiling Water Blade. She couldn't even see past her own nose but the layout had to be the same so maneuvering around was simple enough. It was easy enough for her delicate frame to shimmy through the tables without bumping into them, pass the bookshelves with her fingertips dragging over the book spines for guidance and grab the doorknob to the next floor.

**"Child," **Chōmei intervened. **"Let's just watch here. I'll take the reins with my chakra, you just watch."**

_"That's very generous of you. What's the occasion?"_

**"I just don't feel right with us going up the floors. Let's be safe rather than sorry. Just focus, I'll handle this part."**

Fū was not about to argue with the Seven-Tails. She sat in a meditation pose with her hands relaxing over her eyes, the red chakra poured out of her abdomen, split off into her arms then funneled into her eyes changing them from her solid orange to the hexagonal pattern of the insects and with that she could see through the eyes of every fly, spider and ant with several meters. Chōmei was the Insect King and all insectiods, arachnids and all six to eight legged creatures would hear his call.

Deep breathes entered and escaped her as she focused her sight on the vault floor where Shibuki and his men prepared the Jiongu scroll she fantasized so much over. The visions became clear through seven angles of the room from three spiders, two cockroaches and two flies trapped in the webs of said spiders. In those lines of sight, Fū was able to make out Shibuki, four ninja in white and gold robes, five Jonin guards and two more men in robes with their hands on the barrier wall, separating the Jiongu and them.

"Okay," Shibuki started. "Let's get this ready."

The two ninja present at the wall placed their hands on two patterns on the wall, concentrated their chakra into the seals and the membrane of shimmering purple faded. Shibuki forced himself to approach the scroll as if he was fighting a strong current but to Fū's eyes, thanks to Chōmei's chakra, it was clear as day to her. The black tendrils of chakra that were at bay thanks to the barrier, were now free and wrapping themselves around anything they could grab but Shibuki pushed through unaware to their presence and took the scroll in his hand. The scroll gave off an evil aura radiating chakra black as night but at the same time taunting like it wanted to be picked up. Waiting for this day.

Shibuki dragged himself to the center of the room and ordered his men to prepare the ritual. Without hesitation, the four ninja took meditation positions and linked chakra with a giant symbol resembling what Fū thought were tentacles. The symbol then turned a shade of blue and illuminated the room.

The scroll, almost like it was alive, hurled itself into the center of the chakra pool being made to hold the demon spawned technique. Opening itself, like some kind of sorcery, it revealed its contents to Shibuki, whom then approached it with a brave heart but still hesitant to fully come in contact with it but who would blame him. The scroll's inside were solid black with no legible writing on it but kept unraveling itself until it could open no more and soon the color black filled the perimeter that it was confined in. The black trail of the scroll then erupted with a seemingly endless mass of black tendrils.

Fū was seeing all of this from every angle thanks to her bugs and it was something straight out of a nightmare. The tendrils pulled themselves to the center of the room and stretched throughout the room. This monstrous mass of boneless limbs ignored the several people in the room but instead drifted towards the several insects a certain Jinchūriki was seeing through, prying at random parts of the wall and slapping the floor. Shibuki, not grasping why the Jiongu was ignoring them, entered the circle the technique spawned from.

Fū wanted to scream, to run to the only person she knew as family and beg him not to do it but her body was paralyzed from fear. The Jiongu was something she wanted because it sounded unique, hated and misunderstood just as she was but the scroll was nothing like her but exactly as it was described. A monster in itself. What made it harder for her to run to Shibuki was that she knew "it" knew she was there.

Shibuki taking in a deep breath, embracing Naruto's words of what a real leader was. He refused to run away now and he was willing to do anything to protect his village. Even if it meant his own life but he would not die to this technique, he would not go mad, he would not let its power consume him but tame the beast within and with its power, protect Taki and all of its people.

The black mass struck the ground with enough force to leave cracks in the floor, the tendrils peeled themselves apart to resemble threads of cloth but still had the sinister presence they had as one whole part, the new slivers of Jiongu writhed at the open air happy with its new found freedom. It may have been released from the scroll that in inhabitated but it was still very far from free due to the seal surrounding it.

Shibuki got as close to the writhing tendrils as he could without them lashing out at him. The grotesque mass just moved through the air like a fish in water circling the young leader and having him come even closer to the open scroll. The smaller ones were flowing side to side like is was dancing, or wave him over, trying to hypnotize the man.

"I'm here Jiongu," Shibuki shouted. "My home is on the verge of war and your power is more than adequate. Hear me and give me the power your horde to yourself."

The black threads still did as it did upon freeing itself and floated around the room. Acting as if it were uninterested in the boy they did as they were. No kind of sign that they were listening if it could even understand.

"Did you not hear me! I said give me your power this instant!"

Suddenly the tendril threads stopped moving and all their focus was now on Shibuki. Even the ones interested in the insects Fū was overshadowing ripped themselves away to tower over Shibuki. All slowly coming towards him and writhing around his personal space. Wrapping around his neck and pulling his limbs dragging him into an uncomfortable position.

"What are you waiting for?! Take me!"

That was all it wanted to hear. The treads burrowed their way into his forearms, his open mouth, ears, eye sockets, tearing into his ankles and any other part of his body it could force its way through. Shibuki's muffled screams of pain were too much and Fū fled the floor of the library she was in out into the open air. Using the wings of Chōmei, she darted into the trees and flew as fast as her wings could carry her.

She ignored the branches smacking her face, the rips in her clothes and the cuts she was receiving. Tears pouring from her eyes, her heart racing from fear and her head pounding all of a sudden. She didn't want to stop running, she didn't want to look back. She was afraid that it was right behind her. The others may not have been aware but Chōmei was what the Jiongu was interested in. It sensed his chakra. It was trying to get through the cracks in the walls to get to the floor where she was until Shibuki shouted at it.

"**Child! Child please calm down! It is not following us and Shibuki will be fine. If you work yourself too much, in your condition, you'll-**"

Her vision went dark and her body stopped moving. She fell to the cold unforgiving ground losing consciousness and vulnerable to the world around her. Her grunts of pain escaped her mouth as she landed, the pain from all the collisions caught up to her with her muscles tensing up and her head pounding in pain from the migraines the Jinchūriki had from time to time.

Her body giving out, her exhaustion catching up and sleep about to take her, she dug her fingers into the dirt attempting to make a poor effort to pull herself further away. She felt fear from the Jiongu and even more fear for Shibuki's safety. As her last bits of sight vanished, eyelids shut and body fell limp, her only worries though were if her closest friend would be okay in the end.


End file.
